In Between
by DoubTrust
Summary: "Didn't you always want to molest Naruto?" Sasuke snorted at Itachi's question. How he wished he could do that right now. Only problem; Naruto had no recollection of him or his life in the Ninjaverse. Trust Sasuke to put a weapon against the unsuspecting blonde's throat instead, after finally reuniting with him in the human world. SasuNaru. Full summary inside. SemiAU
1. Deai

**Main Pairing: SasuNaru  
Minor Pairings: SaiNaru, GaaNaru (others, I still dunno)**

**Summary:  
**Naruto had always thought life to be boring... Until the day he found a blank scroll. A puff of smoke and then- "Did you just come from the..." With the sudden appearance of the two Uchihas, his life may take a different turn from now on. Sasuke struggles to prevent himself from jumping Naruto. But being near him all the time, this task proved to be difficult especially when the blonde had no recollection of who Sasuke was and what their true relationship is. Handling two friends with mother hen attitudes is one thing, fending off an overprotective redhead is another. How about fighting off a perverted raven? What's Naruto to do now with another raven more persistent, arrogant and perverted from another world? **  
**

**Setting: Semi-AU**

**THIS IS A YAOI FIC. DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: Naruto belongs to Sasuke, err, Masashi Kishimoto. So yeah, I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 1: Encounter**

* * *

Running.

Someone was running towards his room.

Sasuke was awake though he remained motionless in his large, cold bed. He heard a voice calling his name repeatedly and recognized its owner. The person finally entered his room then stood by the closed door. He could feel his brother staring at his back, as if waiting for him to turn and face him.

"Sasuke," Itachi started, voice sounding commanding. "We have to leave. Now."

At that moment, the younger raven sat right up with an arched eyebrow. "What's happening?"

He had just woken up a few minutes prior due to the loud shouting, slamming and ruckus he heard from some parts of their compound. He payed little attention to it, thinking that his Father's men were merely training again. But now, as Itachi had arrived abruptly, things didn't seem too good.

"Danzou." That was all what Sasuke needed to know to get him out of the bed and start preparing his things.

"Itachi why ar-"

"He will kill us once he finds us. You know how Uchihas don't get along with_ him_ and his ways," his brother cut him off with a glare.

Itachi helped Sasuke pack his things. There wasn't much to pack since he wouldn't need a lot. Just two clean pairs of clothing and other basic necessities. Sasuke managed to slip their family picture inside his backpack before his brother closed it. The other didn't mind though he did have a questioning look.

"Father and Mother are in no danger. They are well protected by Father's men, we have nothing to worry about them." Itachi paused as he looked into his brother's eyes. "Its_ us_, their offspring, they are after since we are the young ones of our family. If we are killed, there would be no other way to continue the Uchiha lineage."

"So its true that Mother can't..."

"Yes," The older of the two answered without hesitation. "Now, let's go before that scum's men locate us."

"Why now, of all times?"

"Because Fugaku has weakened. He cannot protect you both in his condition," a new voice answered for them, appearing suddenly inside the room.

The two ravens nodded in acknowledgment at the newcomer. "Kakashi, good to see you," Sasuke greeted him.

"Hello, Sasuke." The man smiled even though his lower face was covered in a mask. His emotions were clear in his mismatched eyes, nonetheless.

"We have no time left. The jutsu must be performed at once." Itachi reminded them, stepping back to allow some space for their gray-haired comrade. Kakashi Hatake; Fugaku's renowned right-hand man.

In a flash, the oldest of the three took out a scroll and rolled it open on the floor. His hands quickly executed the seals needed for the jutsu, not wasting anymore time as he was told. He gestured for the two young Uchihas to step on the scroll laid out in front of them.

"Take care, both of you." A serious look was now plastered on Kakashi's face. "The human world is quite complicated to those who are new to it."

"I can handle myself," Sasuke reassured them.

"You are not _that_ capable yet," Itachi interjected. "_I_ will take care of both of us."

The older raven received a glare from his sibling which he just ignored, though Kakashi had chuckled at them.

"I will visit as soon as I can. You can send summons to send your messages to us, in case anything happens."

"Take care of Father and Mother, and your self too." The passive face on Sasuke was now back.

"I will." A thought had suddenly entered Kakashi's mind. "Ah, Tsunade said she will handle things here as Hokage while you are away. Also, she's enraged why that old man had even planned to do this and go against her, and your family. The Hyuuga, Nara, Akimichi and Aburame clans are on our side, I just hope that Danzou will be intimidated enough to stop hunting you both down."

The gray-haired man smiled once again. For the last step, he slashed his arm with a kunai and drew blood to the seal on the scroll, slamming his hand on it afterwards. A puff of smoke suddenly enveloped the two brothers just as voices were now heard outside the room. They all knew that it would not be long until the enemies find them here.

"You can stay at Jiraiya or Minato's place there. I'm sure they won't mind since they're both good friends with your father. Tell them we said hello," Kakashi said lastly with a barely detectable pleasant tone. Itachi and Sasuke nodded once while they processed all the things he had said.

They were both thrilled and nervous about coming to the human world. Sasuke had no experience on how to deal with the life, or the people there. Itachi, on the other hand, had been there countless of times. Being part of the ANBU Elite Force, sometimes it was part of his mission coming to the said world but it was not a long period of visit.

The door burst open and five ANBU Root filed in. As sudden as the smoke had appeared, the two brothers had now vanished into thin air. There were shouts and cries of agitation everywhere, including the room Kakashi currently resided in.

"Sorry guys, seems like you're all late."

And with that, he lifted his hand up, channeling a large amount of chakra to it. As chidori was formed, Kakashi immediately charged at the intruders who dared to harm his family.

**-x-x- In Between -x-x-**

Shaking.

Someone was shaking him awake.

Naruto could not help a whine from escaping his mouth as he complained of the sudden disturbance. He didn't want to open his eyes yet, much less, budge from his sleeping position.

"Naruto, dear, you'll be late for your first day of school." Kushina continued moving his son back and forth, with increased speed now.

"Mom, just... fifteen or ten more minutes!" He raised an arm in exasperation, then brought it back down on his side. He felt very reluctant to get up from his warm, comfortable, wonderful, wonderful bed.

The redheaded woman laughed a little then bent down to kiss her baby on the forehead. Seconds after, Minato knocked on the door then came in. He noticed the same position Naruto was in when he visited him earlier. He smiled at his wife who had a sheepish expression on her face. Sometimes she was still too soft on their son.

Minato sighed.

"Son, if you don't get up now, I will throw away all our stocks of ramen." The older blonde knew that this threat would be going a little overboard.

Okay, maybe not a little. Since Naruto was now fully awake after hearing the words 'throw away' and 'ramen' in the same sentence, shouting and running around in his room in panic about his precious ramen going to waste. But hey, it worked.

"Dad!" Naruto had tears streaming down his cheeks. "Why? Why would you even say or do that? Why?" Betrayal was clearly heard in his voice. As if, the whole world turned against him to take away his happiness and his father was the mastermind of it all.

His parents laughed at their son. "I'm sorry, it was the only way to make you get out of bed."

"But still! That's... that's mean!" Naruto pouted as he crossed his arms and sat down on his bed beside his mother. He had always thought that his father was on his side, but now...!

"Anyway," Kushina smiled and patted their son's head. "Breakfast is ready. Let's all head down now."

The two blondes made identical grins as they followed the redhead down the stairs then to the dining room. There was always no room for arguments when it came to food, much less home made ones by Kushina. The Uzumaki family sat down at the rather large round table to eat the aforementioned food. Kushina had already prepared the usual for breakfast; ham, eggs, hotdogs, toast, and also strawberry jam. Naruto eyed the things laid out on the table, inspecting all of them. The pout had returned to his face as he didn't see the love of his stomach.

Minato noticed the lack of enthusiasm in his son when he didn't find what he was looking for. He shook his head then stood up, walking towards the counter. He reached for something behind the toaster then walked back to the table.

"Careful with the food, honey. It's still pretty hot." Kushina smiled and gave a knowing look at Naruto.

The sixteen-year old glanced at what his father was holding, pout still present in his face. The moment he realized what it was, he pointed his finger at the bowl with his eyes glistening in delight and his mouth set in a very wide grin.

"Ramen!" Naruto cheered. "Miso ramen!"

Minato chuckled as he handed the food to the awaiting hands of his son. Naruto immediately grabbed a pair of chopsticks on the table, broke it in two and then dug in with incredible speed.

"Slow down, you might burn your-"

"Tongue!" Naruto cried.

He made fanning motions with his hands to relieve the sudden sting on his wet muscle. His poor, poor tongue was darted out as he continued fanning it. Naruto looked at his parents pleadingly. "Mah kang! Mah kang hekz!"

"Your tongue hurts? I told you to be careful!" Kushina scolded him and wagged her index finger in the process. She gave the young blonde a mock-glare as she handed him a glass of water.

"Kanks, Mom."

Naruto's stomach seemed to complain by now since a loud growl erupted from it. It took him quite some time to ease the slight pain in his tongue, after all. Due to reflex or just carelessness, he grabbed his chopsticks again-

Minato blinked. "Naruto, wait!"

-and repeated the same action he had done a while ago.

"Fucking piece of sh-"

"Language!" Kushina snapped.

The older blonde snickered.

**-x-x- In Between -x-x-**

Naruto finally finished preparing himself.

Fire Academy, his school, was just a few blocks away from their home. Therefore, he didn't need a ride going to the said place despite how many times his mother insisted on driving him there. His father explained to her that their son would just fall asleep in the ride, no matter how short it takes. He blushed a little, feeling a bit embarrassed. He didn't argue though. It was partly true after all. But not to the extent of falling asleep during a three to seven-minute drive!

For their uniform, he wore a white shirt underneath with a black vest on top, along with the school's patch on the upper right of his chest. A necktie, gray in color, adorned his neck, the pants were the same color as the tie, and then white sneakers.

He glanced one last time at the full body mirror in front of him and grinned. "You look hot, Naruto, my man."

He slung one strap of his backpack on his shoulder then got out of his room. Their two-story house was pretty large considering it had five bedrooms, a kitchen, three bathrooms; one on the ground floor and two on the first floor, a living room, a dining room and even a playroom! The pieces of furniture were nothing extravagant because Minato had always wanted a simple kind of life, despite how big their home was.

But Kushina insisted that they should at least pick the colors that they wanted. Red was hers, yellow for her husband and orange for their son. Once you enter their home, the three colors would be noticeable as the theme of the whole house. From the bed covers to the towels and to the toothbrushes they used, the colors would differentiate the owners. Naruto was quite proud to say he had been to every corner and every room of their humble abode.

Except for one place.

Second door to the right of his room, is where he hasn't stepped foot in since God-knows-when. He wasn't actually forbidden by his parents to enter it, but he was told that it only served as a storage room, nothing more. Naruto never felt curious before, until now. So with a quick peek downstairs to check on his parents, and knowing that they weren't there, he dashed towards the said room.

It wasn't locked so he had easy access getting in. He searched for the light switch at the wall since it was dim-lighted inside. After finding it, and switching it on, he quickly scanned the whole room. He saw his old toys, old clothes, old furniture... oh, was that his favorite blanket?

Nothing had caught his interest. He stepped further inside, lifting the covers on the objects on the floor, checking the things laid out on the table. Nothing. He was about to leave the unexpectedly tidy room, but it was then that he saw an old-looking scroll hanging at the wall. He snatched it from its place and then slowly opened it.

Naruto was grinning widely, thinking that it might be some kind of secret map to a secret place, where there would be a secret treasure where only few knew how to read the secret language written on the secret scroll. Yes, he was thinking nonsense again.

He was disappointed, however, when he found out that there was nothing written in it. Not even pictures. He pouted but he didn't return the scroll to its rightful position on the wall. Instead, he put it inside his bag. He switched off the light and then left the room, closing it behind him. He jogged down the stairs to say goodbye to his parents. Naruto found them both on the living room watching TV.

"Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" He kissed his mom on her cheek while she did the same to him, and then he bumped fists with his dad.

"Take care, dear." Kushina adjusted and straightened her son's necktie before he left.

"See you, son. Keep track of the girls' names!" Minato called to him, which earned him a whack on the head by his beloved wife. Aggressive woman.

Naruto's laughter was heard from the door. "I will dad! Don't worry!" he called back, and then he left the house, past the yard and then outside the gate.

Naruto actually loved walking on the street, especially on mornings. Everything was so peaceful, so serene. His neighbors saw and greeted the teen, he grinned and waved at them in return. He glanced at his watch. As soon as he saw the time, the grin on his face dropped.

"Oh shit..." Four minutes until eight o'clock.

**-x-x- In Between -x-x-**

"Dude, I thought you said you already had a change of heart," a brunette reminded his blonde friend about their talk a few months ago. "That you wouldn't be coming late to school anymore like you did before."

Naruto groaned as he buried his head in his folded arms on the desk. "I tried, Kiba! I_ tried_!" The protests were slightly muffled but the other had understood it. "I just got a little distracted by something..."

"A _little?"_ Kiba asked incredulously. "You nearly missed the entrance ceremony!" He threw his arms up in the air, almost exasperated by what his best friend had done. "What time did you wake up?"

"Quarter to seven."

"What time did you finish fixing yourself?"

"Twenty minutes before eight."

"And...? Did you realize what time you arrived at school?"

"Uh... one minute past eight?"

"Exactly!" The brunette slammed his hand on the table, making Naruto wince and lift his head back up. "You're not trying hard enough!"

"Gah! I'm sorry okay?" He clutched his head and then lowered it again.

Kiba grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "Apology accepted."

Stupid mutt.

**-x-x- In Between -x-x-**

"For sophomores like us, I didn't actually think they would be merciful on the first day," the dog-lover commented offhandedly.

They walked down the hallway as they were about to go home now.

"Just wait, those teachers are just preparing to strike and then... BAM!" Naruto shook his fist for more emphasis, some students glanced at them for the sudden raise of voice. "Homework!" They turned to a corner after going down the stairs, finally nearing the exit. "Loads and loads of homework."

Kiba couldn't help but laugh at his friend's antics. He was sure they would survive another year, that or he was just plainly relying on false hope.

They (or rather their parents) were friends with almost all of their teachers that's why it was no big deal having them in class. Plus, the school director is actually Naruto's godfather. Minato's uncle; Jiraiya. He had pulled some strings to assign a few familiar teachers to Naruto's classes, making the school year much easier. Ah, life was good.

"We're meeting up with the others tomorrow," Kiba informed Naruto, who looked at him with interest. "Sai and Sakura had been nagging me about you. They said they lost contact with their favorite blonde."

Naruto had a sheepish smile on while he rubbed the back of his neck. "I lost my cellphone somewhere in the mall. After my parents bought a new one for me, I didn't know where I could get your numbers," he admitted.

Kiba snorted. "Idiot."

"Hey! You're the stupid one here for not even-"

"Oh, and Gaara had been isolating himself more often when you weren't around." That had effectively shut Naruto up. He hadn't seen the aforementioned redheaded friend of his for quite a long time, too.

"Do you think he'll be socializing more with people when I'm with you guys again?" he asked, uncertain of what could happen.

"Dude, you're practically the only person he trusts! Even more than his two siblings!" The brunette shook his head with a hopeless sigh.

Naruto scrunched up his face as he processed in his mind what his best friend had told him. "Whatever you say, mutt."

"Shut u-"

_You are my friend aa ano hi no yume_  
_Ima de mo mada wasuretenain desho_  
_You are my dream aa-_

"Yoh," Kiba greeted the person on the other line. "Sis? Yeah... Hmm... I'm with Naruto." He cast a glance at the blond who had stopped walking when his friend did so.

"Hmm..." Kiba occasionally became quiet as he listened to his sibling. "Yeah, yeah. I understand, I'll be there."

"What did she say?" Naruto tilted his head to the side while waiting for the other to answer.

"Sis needs help in taking care of the dogs. She told me to go home right away since she needed my assistance. We have three canines currently sick," Kiba explained, hiding the slight worry in his voice.

"Oh..." Naruto didn't have any knowledge pertaining to animals, much less dogs. That's why he wasn't able to give any words of wisdom to help in the current situation.

"Also, the dogs have been howling all together which kept on causing disturbance for the neighbors."

"I wish I could do something to help."

Kiba chuckled a little then shrugged. "Nah, its okay. Oh!" He quickly flipped his cellphone open. "Number?"

Naruto blinked twice and then grinned. He started zipping his backpack open to reach for his phone. Ever since he had lost it in the mall, he had never put it in his pocket again. He always carried a bag with him to put his valuables in it.

"Hey what's that?" The brunette pointed at the old scroll Naruto had found that morning.

"Oh this?" He took it out of his bag too and then rolled it open for his friend to see. "Doesn't contain anything. I just found it this morning in the storage room."

"Never mind then." They both laughed.

The two boys exchanged numbers, finally having contact with their best friend. After a few goodbyes, they both parted on their own separate ways. While walking home, Naruto had been staring at the blank scroll he had unrolled and held in his hands.

"I don't get it..." Naruto let go of one end of the scroll to scratch his head. "Why would Mom and Dad keep an empty, old-looking scroll anyway?"

He glared hard on the blank space, daring it to form words, pictures, _anything._ He was rolling it back when suddenly, black ink started to appear and construct what appeared to be a seal. Naruto's eyes darted everywhere on the once-blank scroll. He couldn't believe it! The seal continued to grow and form on the the paper. This really _might _be a secret map, to a secret place with a secr-

A puff of smoke began to form and he just had to let go of the scroll.

"What the hell...?" Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. Out of nowhere, two raven haired males suddenly appeared. "Did you just come from the..." He glanced at the scroll which had rolled a little far from him.

They seemed to be siblings, considering how they looked so much alike. The older one, a man with a low ponytail and an emotionless face, had to be older by five years or so. And the younger one, a boy who looked to be the same age as him had the same expression as his brother, only his hair at the back was spiked upwards. The taller of the two glanced down at his companion. The slightly shorter male appeared to understand what his intentions and so he stepped back, allowing his brother to do all the interacting.

"Do you know of a man named Jiraiya, or perhaps Minato?" The man's eyes looked calm but deadly.

He gulped. "Yes, they're my family." Naruto congratulated himself inwardly for not stuttering. The unknown guy in front him had a voice even colder than ice!

"Take us to them." At this point, Naruto's fear seemed to back away, little by little.

"Why should I do that?" He crossed his arms. "How should I know you're not bad guys who are just planning to-"

His sentence was cut off as a sharp object was pressed to his throat. "Listen here, we are not enemies. We merely wish to speak to Jiraiya and Minato."

"Sasuke, stay back."

"But Itachi," Sasuke tried to protest but his older brother's glare wouldn't allow him. He obeyed and stood by his aniki's side.

Itachi looked back at the blond who had now fallen on the ground due to shock. How the heck did that Sasuke-guy get so fast behind him?

"We're in need of their help." Itachi gazed at his eyes. "We mean no harm," he promised.

Naruto stared at them both, eying them for any wrong intentions. Having found none, he slowly got up and dusted his pants. He walked towards the two, past them and then bent down to retrieve the fallen scroll. He turned back around, heading to their home.

"Follow me," he instructed. "I'll take you to my father, Minato."

* * *

**Ummm. Is it good?  
Please tell me if I should continue this story or not~  
I'm sorry if there are grammatical errors lurking around. I don't have a Beta, and haven't found time to ask someone about it...  
So yeah, please bear with me~**

**And please review? lol**

**What..? It's for motivation~  
**


	2. Mioboe

**I didn't expect people to actually, maybe, somehow... like this fic. I was kinda having double thoughts if I should still continue this story.**

**So uhh... OMG THANKS FOR THE FAVORITES / ALERTS AND ESPECIALLY REVIEWS!  
**

**Lol. I just needed to get that out. Sorry for the sudden outburst xD  
I was just surprised, that's all.  
**

**Anyway, Happy New Year~**

**Review replies are at the end of this chapter. I don't wanna further delay you from reading. lol**

**DISCLAIMER: MK will definitely hunt me down and _try _to kill me with a toothpick if I dare own Naruto. So, yeah, I don't.  
**

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 2: Recognition**

* * *

"Follow me," Naruto instructed. "I'll take you to my father, Minato."

The two individuals shared a quick glance and then nodded at each other. They followed the blonde in silence as he resumed walking towards his home.

Naruto stayed calm and collected on the surface, but on the inside, the anxiety was beginning to crawl back to him. He didn't know what these two men needed with his family. He wouldn't even know their names if they hadn't called each other by it.

Naruto was nervous and at the same time, curious. Nervous because he was about to let a pair of strangers inside their residence. And curious as to why they would suddenly appear out of a... a... a scroll! For God's sake, how the hell did they even do that?

Naruto's mind became crammed with questions unanswered yet. Was all of this a mere illusion? Was he just seeing things ever since due to lack of ramen? He wasn't going crazy was he?

Finally arriving at the main gate, the sixteen-year old could only gulp. He turned around and looked back at his company. "Well," he started. "We're here." He gestured his head in their house's direction.

The three of them walked through the gate, past the yard and then stopped by the front door. Naruto was the first to come in, going straight for the living room as he called, "I'm back!"

He made sure his voice was loud and clear enough to be heard in the house. So in case his parents were somewhat out of hearing range, they wouldn't have difficulty knowing he was already home. "Dad! Mom!"

"Welcome back, Naruto!" Kushina called back from the kitchen. There were a few clanking noises, like the redheaded woman was placing some things down. She stepped in the living room while in the process of wiping her wet hands with a towel.

"You're home quite la-" Kushina didn't get to finish her sentence as she noticed the two people behind her son who had stood silent and unmoving all that time. She had dropped the towel in her hands due to shock, her mouth was ajar and her eyes showed total surprise.

She recovered from her daze in a few seconds, smiling afterwards at the three other occupants of the room. "I'll call Minato," Kushina informed them and then headed for their bedroom in a rush.

Naruto tapped his foot awkwardly on the floor to minimize the uneasy tension and silence in the atmosphere. The couch was just a few meters away and none of the three ever made a move to sit down.

He took a glimpse behind him and caught Sasuke looking. They shared a moment staring into each other's eyes before the raven finally cut it off. The action didn't go unnoticed by Itachi who had been watching with mild amusement.

Not long after, the older blonde was running down the stairs. He grinned at his son in greeting which Naruto responded with a grin of his own. But once he had sighted the siblings, he quickly walked towards them and pulled them into a quick hug.

"Boys," he looked at them both, at Itachi first and then at Sasuke. "Its been a while."

It was Naruto's turn to be motionless. He watched their interaction with wide eyes as disbelief was clearly shown on his face.

When Minato let go of them, they bowed in respect to him before saying, "Hello, Uncle Minato."

"I didn't know we would be having unexpected guests, or should i say, friends?" Kushina smiled at them warmly.

"Actually," the older blonde ruffled his hair a bit as he added. "They aren't really 'unexpected', since I knew some time before that this would eventually happen."

His wife blinked twice. "You didn't tell me!" She pouted as she crossed her arms, which made Minato chuckle.

"Sorry, sorry." He chuckled some more. "I thought you would have asked back in our world. It must have slipped from my mind."

The younger blonde felt the urge to just go shout, panic and ask questions regarding the sudden arrival of the two ravens and this so called 'world' of them. He wanted to do those three things all at the same time.

And so he did.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? CAN SOMEONE PLEASE JUST TELL ME? FIRST, I ACCIDENTALLY FIND A SCROLL WHICH-"

"Oh my, so you've sneaked inside the storage room," Minato tapped his chin while he looked contemplatively at his son, while Naruto just glared.

"-SO HAPPENS TO BE THE PASSAGEWAY OF THESE TWO UNKNOWN CREATURES WHO MIGHT HAVE COME FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH AND-"

At this, the Uchiha siblings both raised an eyebrow with an 'Excuse me?' expression on their faces.

"-THEN SUDDENLY, MY PARENTS BOTH KNOW THEM AS IF THEY WERE JUST OUR NEIGHBORS! WHAT IS-"

"But they are our neighbors back in Konoha, dear." Kushina had said it as if it was a very known fact from the start, a smile gracing her lips.

"-WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW-"

Naruto's eyelids slowly closed suddenly and then he dropped to carpeted floor.

Three pairs of eyes looked over at the father of the previously ranting blonde. He was holding a blowpipe to his mouth, which he had kept in his clothing all along. They finally realized what had shut Naruto up as they saw the dart that had sunk into the blonde's left side of the neck.

Silence filled the room before Sasuke decided to speak up.

"Was that necessary?" He smirked, very amused by the situation.

Minato gave a thumbs up at them as he grinned. He had kept the blowpipe already in some hidden part of his clothing which was unknown to anybody.

"Of course, I used to do it all the time to him when he kept pestering me for video games." He glanced at his wife momentarily who was currently helping (more like dragging) their unconscious son to a nearby couch. "Even Kushina had a taste of my powerful blowpipe."

At that, the aforementioned woman turned her head to pout at him. "You wouldn't let me go on a shopping spree alone!"

The older blonde sighed. "If I did, you wouldn't be back until the next day, maybe even week."

Itachi chuckled at their two family friends. "We enjoyed the first few minutes we had stayed here." He looked at Naruto who might have been sleeping by now, considering the soft snores eliciting from him. "But I would also like to inform you of our current situation... in Konoha."

Minato and Kushina became serious in an instant, motioning the two ravens to follow them to the study which was near the living room. After getting inside, they quickly switched on the lights and closed the door.

Minato took his usual place at his desk and Kushina at her own. Itachi and Sasuke sat by the couch. Once everyone was comfortable with their positions, the older raven began to explain things.

"Danzou had started to make his move."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Naruto woke up feeling a slight sting on his neck. He paid it no mind though, he was busy recalling what had happened. He sat up on the couch and saw their guest observing him. The blonde blinked multiple times, he even rubbed his eyes and stretched his limbs. But even after those several actions, Sasuke's gaze remained on him. He coudn't quite guess what the raven was thinking. He wasn't moving and had an expressionless face, after all.

"What are you looking at, teme?"

Silence.

"A dobe."

"Huh?"

"I'm looking at a dobe."

That made the blonde glance around to see if there was anyone else in the room. Finding none, he looked back at Sasuke.

"Who's the dobe you're talking about?"

"You," the raven said simply, stopping himself from saying 'duh' at the end.

"Take back what you said!" The blond's outburst fell on deaf ears.

Naruto's jaw dropped a little. He resisted the urge to throw something at the other teen while his back was now turned, since he was rummaging through his bag on the opposite couch. That would only be a cowardly act. But since Sasuke was being such a bastard...

He grabbed the nearest object his hand could reach. He lifted his arm and aimed for the said bastard's head. After making sure that he would hit the target dead on with his chosen weapon, a slipper with bunny patterns, he pulled his arm a little backwards and then hurled the object at the raven.

Sasuke, being Sasuke, calmly dodged the thrown thing at his head, his back still turned since he was still not done rummaging.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Teme!"

And then he hurled another bunny-patterned slipper at him. The bastard had once again dodged skillfully. Naruto needed more ammo. He quickly made use of the pillows on the couch, the rags, the cushions. He was even having double thoughts whether he would hurl the couch itself next or not. If only the bastard would stop dodging, he wouldn't have to throw those things.

Wait. Scratch that. If only the bastard wasn't being such a bastard, this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Sasuke didn't seem disturbed by the blonde's continuous act of a one-sided war. He was still busy trying to find a necklace. Where the heck was it anyway? Maybe he should go ask Itachi later if he had seen it.

He had long since left the study after getting bored with the serious talk of the adults. He didn't give a damn about that Danzou.

Sasuke realized that he had stopped dodging, which means only one thing. The dobe finally got tired of his little battle. He spun around to check on the awfully quiet blonde... and quickly made contact with a pillow shoved to his face. He heard a triumphant laughter coming from his side.

The idiot.

He grabbed Naruto's wrist and removed the pillow which was currently in his personal space. Once the obstacle was out of the place, he activated the trademark Uchiha glare with matching Sharingan to add more fear. The blonde's grin did not falter though.

"Sadly, that won't work on me. I have a friend who glares a lot too, you know?" Naruto chuckled. "I even caught him glaring at a rock before. It must have been on the road and Gaara didn't want such things in his path."

Sasuke didn't break their eye contact, nor did he speak at all. He didn't even let go of the wrist he was gripping onto. He deactivated his Sharingan but allowed the glare to remain on his pale face.

"What, is this how you get revenge against me for shoving a harmless piece of cushion to your face?" Naruto snickered. "By making me look into your eyes?"

Sasuke snorted at him, moving closer to the other's face.

"No, dobe. My thought differs from yours."

The younger teen glared back at this point. "What do you have in mind then, teme?"

The bastard showed another one of his trademark features; his smirk. "Oh, you'll see. Or rather... feel."

Naruto stepped back since the raven kept on inching towards him. Why was the said bastard doing this? Why was he getting closer and closer? Heck, why was he even still here?

When Sasuke's lips were just mere centimeters away, Naruto could not help but close his eyes. He was highly anticipating what would occur next. This only made Sasuke's smirk grow even wider. He could study the blonde's face more closely this way.

The idiot kept on creasing his eyebrows together as he pouted, eyes still closed. He was definitely waiting for something to happen. The older teen suppressed an amused chuckle. He put his hands on both cheeks, gently, he began to rub them. He brushed away the strands covering Naruto's forehead and then blew lightly on it.

He felt the blonde shiver and smirked some more before he retracted his head back.

"What is taking you so lo-" Naruto finally opened his eyes just in time to see what was coming.

He knew what Sasuke was going to do but didn't know whether to duck or poke the other guy's eyes out. He picked the third option though; stand still and wait for the impact.

Sasuke headbutted the blonde. Hard.

"OW! SHIT! FUCK! DAMN!" Naruto immediately withdrew and rubbed the sore spot on his forehead. He gave Sasuke the best glare he could ever muster in his sixteen years.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"I hope you do not mind our stay here. We really don't mean to intrude but we-"

"It's okay Itachi." The blonde man held up a hand calmly. "If it was your Father, he would also do the same to my son." Minato smiled pleasantly. "And besides, you two are welcome to stay here no matter how long you need or want. Especially if its to protect you from that old man."

Itachi nodded in understanding. "Thank you." He looked at the couple, a small, barely detectable smile on his lips.

"Naruto would be pleased to have more people to talk to," Kushina beamed.

He shook his head slowly. "I don't think he likes my little brother. No, wait." The older raven paused. "I don't think he even likes us."

"Ah, but Sasuke-kun is actually a sweet child, ne? And what makes you think Naruto wouldn't like two good-looking men?" The redhead pouted and crossed her arms. She didn't find anything wrong with the Uchiha siblings. Her cute son must still be sleepy to not understand this.

Minato blinked then spoke, "You encountered him earlier, right?"

"Yes."

"Did something happen back then?"

Itachi sighed. "Actually, Sasuke may have given a wrong impression on Foxy." The couple chuckled at their son's nickname.

"I was _trying _to explain to your son that we merely needed your assistance. He was panicking, from the looks of it. And little Sasuke here grew impatient so, he drew a kunai and pressed it to Naruto's neck."

"We all know Sasuke couldn't _and _wouldn't do anything to hurt our son," the blonde man said with such confidence.

"Of course!" his wife piped in. "That might be his way of saying 'I missed you'." She chuckled.

Minato and Kushina's grins didn't fade, they even hummed. They were not worried in the least bit about the incident. "Kids." The couple simply said in unison.

"Hn."

Silence had reigned among them before a string of curses broke through.

_"OW! SHIT! FUCK! DAMN!"_

"Oh my." The redhead got up from her seat and motioned for the door. "I better check on the boys to make sure they're playing nice." And with that, she scampered off.

Minato shook his head while Itachi just shrugged.

"How long do you plan on staying?" The older blonde asked. "Not that I'm driving you both away. But if you're going to stay here for a while, you need to adjust to the life here."

"I have thought about that earlier, when we were still at home. I do not mind walking around town to observe, even though I have made my visit here countless of times due to my ANBU missions."

"Ah, yes."

Minato nodded with closed eyes while thinking. He had somehow forgotten about Itachi's membership in the ANBU Elite Force. He took a moment to sigh and look back to the younger man.

"What about your brother? Teens around his age are still going to school. I have a feeling that he won't be able to withstand staying here in the house doing nothing at all."

"Agreed. Though, I have yet to discuss what our current plans are."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

The raven just crossed his arms as he watched while Naruto swore colorfully while he paced around in circles, still in pain. The blonde would pause after six or eight seconds, whispering the words, 'I hate you' to Sasuke over and over again.

"That's one of the many ways of my revenge."

And with a final glare, he left the pouting blonde to have a walk outside. Kushina passed by him on his way. The cheerful woman smiled brightly at him while he simply nodded in greeting.

"Stupid duck-butt..." Naruto was still rubbing his abused forehead by the time his mother got in front of him.

She inspected the reddened spot carefully, glancing down to look at her pouting son. She didn't know any other way to react, and so Kushina resorted to giggling.

Naruto groaned. "Mom!" he whined as he backed away and sat down on the couch. "It's not funny! He's being a complete and utter jerk."

"Well, dear... Uchihas are meant to be that way at first." She winked as she sat beside him. "Once you get to know them, you'll end up wanting them for company."

The blond snorted. "Like hell I will." And with that, he received a whack on the head.

"What the fu-" Kushina's eyes narrowed fiercely. "-dge... T-that hurts..."

The redhead smiled affectionately at her son and then kissed his poor, poor forehead. Naruto stopped muttering incoherent words under his breath when he noticed his mom's expression. She seemed very content at the moment. He tilted his head to the side in question.

"You and Sasuke-kun used to play a lot together when you were kids." She whispered so softly, that if Naruto didn't pay attention closely, he would have missed it. "You two were inseparable."

"Mom?" He scratched his head for a second.

Kushina's head was bowed and so he peeked from underneath to gaze at his mother's face. "Mom...?" he repeated.

The woman blinked twice and then clutched his son's shoulders. "I need to prepare a feast!" she exclaimed excitedly. "We have two guests staying! I need to start now." She stood up and bent down to kiss his son's forehead again.

But before she could leave, Naruto grabbed the hem of her blouse and then looked up. "When will I find out about... you know?"

Kushina responded with another bright smile. "Soon." She left and headed for the kitchen afterwards.

Naruto was left speechless at his spot. If he had heard correct, his mom had just mentioned that he and Sasuke-bastard used to be childhood friends.

That would be impossible, though. Today was the first time he had seen and met the raven.

* * *

**2nd chapter finisheddddddd. I don't have much to say anymore xD**

**REVIEW REPLIES:**

**Narutopokefan :** Weeee~ Thanks for being the first to review. I hope you liked this chapter lol**  
**

**green7butterfly :** Thanks for the review~ Now to answer your questions... First, Kakashi isn't really part of the Uchiha family. Notice the part wherein I mentioned Kakashi's full name; with Hatake and not Uchiha. He just considers them as his own family, which will be explained in later chapters. Um, second... They really meant no harm as Itachi said but since they came from a different world, Sasuke thought that if words can't solve it, actions might. Itachi had pointedly ordered him to stand back though. And third... We all know that Naruto is the no.1 hyperactive, unpredictable ninja in Konoha. I would like to apply that same attitude in this fic xD I hope you're satisfied with the answers. :D**  
**

**x .eya. x : **ERK. Please don't die. I don't want my laziness to be the cause of your death. xD**  
**

**valiantqueen94 : **Aww. I love how they interact, too. Though, Minato can be very cruel at times. :p**  
**

**Ruon jian : **Thankie for the support. I'll do my best to continue and avoid slacking off maybe? xD**  
**

**Sin69 : **Lol. I try to write faster... but I fail... epicly D: Hope you'll enjoy next chapter also.

**Big, big thanks to all the READERS! :D  
Reviews are very much needed to fuel my urge and determination to write... so please press the tempting button down there :D:D:D  
**


	3. Judaku

. . . . . . . I'm _quite _late for an update, huh?

BUT WORRY NOT! Since it is our finals next week, I _think_ I _may_ have time to write often after that dreadful week. lol.  
Aw, c'mon guys. I hope you're not mad at me or something. I can't lose my readers. . . sob  
Soooo, since you people aren't angry. . . kindly put down the pitchforks, torches and _sporks_ aimed at me. xD

WAIT. I wanna give my thanks to these people first:**  
Narutopokefan, ****green7butterfly, ****x. eya. x (um, your name doesn't appear if I put the period right before the letter ^^;;), ****valiantqueen94, ****Ruon jian, Sin69, mangaromance, Nanami La' Ame, Emiko Estelle.  
**

Thank you.! For the continuous support and stuff. Thank you also to the readers and everyone who had listed me and this fic in their favorites :D

Nuff said, let's continue with the story. ;)

**DISCLAIMER: MK _and _Sasuke had shown some proof that they are the rightful owners of Naruto; MK handing out a copy of his official ownership and Sasuke exposing Naruto's neck. A hickey was on the tan spot.**

***cough* Just _how_ could I compete with that? *cough*  
**

**

* * *

**

**_Recap. . ._**

_"You and Sasuke-kun used to play a lot together when you were kids." She whispered so softly, that if Naruto didn't pay attention closely, he would have missed it. "You two were inseparable."_

_"Mom?" He scratched his head for a second._

_Kushina's head was bowed and so he peeked from underneath to gaze at his mother's face. "Mom...?" he repeated._

_The woman blinked twice and then clutched his son's shoulders. "I need to prepare a feast!" she exclaimed excitedly. "We have two guests staying! I need to start now." She stood up and bent down to kiss his son's forehead again._

_But before she could leave, Naruto grabbed the hem of her blouse and then looked up. "When will I find out about... you know?"_

_Kushina responded with another bright smile. "Soon." She left and headed for the kitchen afterwards._

_Naruto was left speechless at his spot. If he had heard correct, his mom had just mentioned that he and Sasuke-bastard used to be childhood friends._

_That would be impossible, though. Today was the first time he had seen and met the raven._

**

* * *

In Between**

**Chapter 3: Acceptance  


* * *

**

"Little brother, its almost dinner time now," Itachi boredly informed him. "Aunt Kushina kept on poking my shoulder, telling me to go and fetch my 'adorable sibling'."

The view from the roof of the Namikaze-Uzumaki residence was rather beautiful for the both of them. They had just witnessed the setting sun not too long ago, and now, they were staring at the night sky. Stars slowly started to appear brighter, _clearer._ In Konoha, they didn't get to appreciate a sight such as now.

At times like this, they were busy concentrating on their missions. Either they were fending off enemies, or heading swiftly to the target so that they could execute their missions in record time successfully. If they're not outside, they would be training in the Uchiha battle grounds. Fugaku had always reminded them that a ninja, no, an _Uchiha_ must always be prepared for any possible situation at any possible time.

"Hn."

_Ah, the young one is deep in thought._ Itachi hid an amused smirk in the dark. After letting it subside, he turned his head to his brother.

"Has your attachment to Foxy fleeted away?"

Sasuke's hand had twitched after hearing the familiar nickname.

"You seem to be drawing back, and it's not even a day yet. You keep repeating to yourself, to all of us, and most especially to Naruto back then, that you would never let go of him." The older raven received a glare as a response to that.

"You said that Naruto has been and will always be your most important person, am I correct?"

"Hn." The younger Uchiha grunted calmly, though his eyes and his clenched fists said anything but calmness.

"Didn't you always want to... molest Naruto?"

Sasuke snorted. Oh, how he wished he _could_ do just that right about _now._

"I don't plan on confusing him. He thinks this is how they had brought him up," he answered truthfully, and with actual words this time. He can't just go and say to his blonde, 'Oh, hey dobe. Want some ramen? By the way, you're _mine._'

Possessive much? Yes. Wise move? Absolutely no.

The older Uchiha continued to look at his sibling, as if calculating his next move. "His parents are already giving hints to his previous home, his previous life." Only after a few minutes, did he turn away to gaze at the same direction Sasuke was staring at.

"Don't you think that you, too, should start providing him specific information regarding your true relationship with each other?"

The younger raven merely shook his head. "I'll just have to start all over again even as I make him remember little by little. But..." the fifteen-year old male smirked. "...that won't be a problem. It'll be no big deal."

Itachi gave a small nod, not caring if Sasuke had even seen the action at all. "I do hope so. Uchihas do not tolerate failure."

The older male stood up and added to his brother before taking off. "We are only staying here until Danzou ceases his attacks. Two strong ninjas aren't supposed to remain in hiding for a long period of time."

"I know..." Sasuke whispered to himself after Itachi left.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Naruto, nothing will happen even if you glare at Sasuke-kun to death," Minato paused momentarily to address what his son was currently doing.

The younger blond made no move to stop or tear his eyes away from the seemingly calm raven sitting across from him. Sasuke was quiet as always even as he ate. The heated glare did not even bother him a bit.

"Are you upset about what he did to you earlier?" Kushina guessed. The food shouldn't wait, but her son needs attention, too.

He shook his head.

"Are you upset that he won't be sleeping in the same room as you?" The older blonde only got a fierce glare sent his way as a reply for inquiring. His son looked down at his plate after.

Itachi cleared his throat. He was fascinated by the way the family interacted, he felt like taking part in the 'fun' also. "Are you upset that we kept it a secret from you about Sasuke's admission to your school?"

Naruto sighed softly. "No, I'm n-" His eyes widen and he finally caught on to what he just heard.

"WHAT?_ He's_ going to attend at _my _school?" He gestured a hand towards the now annoyed-looking raven across from him. Naruto's loud voice does that to people sometimes. Plus, he was not informed about this whole school-thing admission also.

His parents gave sheepish smiles before chuckling a little. "We didn't mean to keep it a secret, really." Minato explained. Naruto looked almost ready to strangle any breathing creature within his reach. Family or not, he knew how frightening his son could be when pissed. "We've already made the necessary arrangements for Sasuke-kun's transfer."

"In fact, we wanted it to be a surprise!" Kushina clasped her hands together while her eyes gleamed. "Isn't it lovely that you two will be together at home, _and_ school?"

Twin sounds of groans were heard.

"In the same class," her husband continued with a dazzling smile.

A loud thud on the table was heard, caused by a head.

"Starting tomorrow," the older Uchiha added.

A body dropped limply onto the floor.

"Wouldn't you agree, boys?" The aggressive yet cheerful redhead asked excitedly.

"NO!" They shouted in unison.

The other occupants of the dining room laughed in delight, except for Itachi, who merely smirked in triumphant.

Naruto, finally stood up, recovering from his fall on the tiled floor while Sasuke lifted his head from its descent on the dining table.

The aforementioned blonde could not do anything but whine to his father about his cruelty. His mother had only bumped him on the head for being such a brat. He was already starting to enjoy his life at school for that year. But tomorrow, the second day, the bastard would be there to accompany him. And since the raven was new in Fire Academy, Naruto guessed... no, he _knew_ that Sasuke would demand for a tour and stick with him everywhere.

Naruto mentally prayed to whoever god was out there listening to his plea. He would be forced to treat Sasuke as a normal new student tomorrow at school. Otherwise, the teme might sic the blonde's parents on him.

"What have I done to deserve this?" Naruto stabbed his steak with a fork in contempt.

Minato blinked and turned his head to their only child. "What, you don't like your mother's cooking?" And that question alone had made Kushina yell in rage and force-feed her beloved son, who kept asking for mercy.

The younger raven remained quiet in his seat.

How could he accept an idea such as that? Going to school? And tomorrow at that! He doesn't even like mingling with people. Sasuke cursed under his breath. The only reason he could withstand this... _hell_, was because his Naruto would be there as well.

_Tch. Might as well make use of the time we have together._

He coughed into his fist and smirked after.

Naruto seemed to be the only one to notice the sudden change in Sasuke's mood. His right eye twitched in annoyance when he saw the smirk, believing that the raven would put him in irritating and embarrassing situations tomorrow. The ruckus earlier was one proof.

_Oh hell no._

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"You do realize that bringing with you nothing at all isn't actually helpful, right?" Naruto glanced at the bastard who was fixing his tie quite expertly. Today was the second day of school. The day he would suffer because of the teme.

Sasuke was going to Fire Academy together with him and for that, he needed an appropriate clothing, of course. He couldn't wear his ANBU gear nor the clothes he owned. Last night, Minato and Kushina had kindly suggested that he borrow Naruto's set of uniform. And when they got home after school, they'll go shopping for the Uchiha siblings' clothing.

The blonde wasn't too happy about lending his things saying, 'I'll catch his bastardness and might suddenly go 'Hn' on people'. His redheaded mother disapproved of him saying such words and so, gifted him with another bump on the head.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow at him and then pointed his index finger at his head. "This is all I need."

Naruto gritted his teeth at that. "Arrogant bastard," he muttered as he walked away and headed to the bathroom in his room. The raven was using his mirror so he had no choice but to evacuate and use the other available one.

The blonde kept on fixing his tie, but always failed at the end. _I had perfected the art of putting on a tie yesterday. Why must I fail now?_ It was only morning but he was starting to feel irritated already. Damn tie.

He was about to give up (on his pride) and ask help from his mother when a pale hand suddenly thrust out to stop his. Naruto was surprised. His eyes trailed from the limb to the face of the owner.

"Need help?" Sasuke asked as his face remained passive. Naruto looked over at the other who was dressed neatly in _his_ uniform. Never before had he felt so envious of people who are able to put on a damn tie properly.

He glared at the Uchiha. "I don't want help from you, teme."

Sasuke smirked and then let go of his hold on Naruto's hand. "Suit yourself, dobe." He shrugged and then walked away, _slowly. _As if he was expecting the blonde to stop him any time now._  
_

At that moment, Naruto was having a mental debate whether to set aside his pride in the mean time to ask help from his mom, or the bastard. He looked up at the clock at the wall. _Eighteen minutes left._ He cursed.

Without further thought, he reached out and grabbed one of the sleeves of Sasuke's uniform. The Uchiha dropped the smirk which was still plastered on his face and then turned his head around. He met the pleading eyes of his dobe. "Hn?" He tried to act oblivious.

Naruto let his hands fall on his sides. "Um..." He tugged a little at his tie which was just hanging around his neck loosely. "Please?"

He thought the bastard would reject his plea for help because of his statement earlier. With Sasuke staring like that at him, there was no way he would know what the other was thinking. He had no idea that the other was just holding himself back from jumping him.

It seemed that Naruto's pouting had that much effect on Sasuke, his constant twitching of hands was proof enough.

Sasuke mentally shook his head. _Focus, Uchiha! Focus!_ He looked back at Naruto who was now crossing his arms, pout still in place. _It's just a tie. A goddamn tie._ He walked closer to the blonde then began readjusting the 'goddamn tie'. _Don't look at his eyes. Don't look at his lips._ He looped the end in the right place and fixed it more so it wouldn't be crooked. _Don't look at him at all. _They were so close and Naruto just stood there obediently, like a slave waiting for his master to-

_I blame Itachi for making me think like this._

"Wow. I can't believe you actually know how to put on a tie." Naruto was somewhat amazed at how neat it looked like. "For a person who just suddenly came out from a blank scroll, aren't you supposed to be new to this?"

It was rhetoric question though and Sasuke answered nonetheless, "Hn."

There was a knock on the door which caught the attention of the two. "I hate to ruin this wonderful moment for the two of you, but we must leave now if you don't want to arrive late." Itachi was smirking by the doorway of the bathroom. "A rather intimate moment, indeed."

Naruto chose that moment to realize that he and Sasuke were too close for comfort, to blush at their situation, and also to push the other away. "I-It's not like that! He was just putting on my tie for me!" He pointed at it for more emphasis.

The older Uchiha raised a questioning eyebrow at that and turned to his brother. "Bondage?"

"Che. I wish." Sasuke glared at the tiled floor. It was the floor's fault that Itachi came and ruined their moment, _obviously._

A few seconds later, Minato and Kushina came running inside too. The older blonde was holding Naruto's backpack, handing it to him when he finally got near.

"Let's go! We don't wanna be late now, do we?" The woman beamed.

Two pairs of eyes looked confused at the three adults before them.

"Um, 'We'?" Naruto slung his bag on his shoulder.

"Yes, 'We'. I'll be driving you both to school for today." Minato grinned.

Sasuke and Naruto both turned to Itachi, quietly asking him why he didn't say this in the first place.

"You weren't exactly listening to me when I said 'We must leave now'." He glared. "Both of you." He stopped leaning on the door frame and stood properly. "Next time, at least have the decency to lock the door when doing inappropriate things."

Naruto blushed in embarrassment and anger while Sasuke just smirked.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Being in a car ride was always pleasant for Naruto. He would constantly take naps when he had the chance whatever the distance of the destination is. But after riding with Uchihas... After sitting between two of them in a car, to be more specific... He had started to dislike the idea riding cars, especially with _them._

Itachi kept on pestering him with questions regarding his school life and personal life. What was he, his mother? Sasuke wasn't helping. At all.

Whenever Naruto nudged the younger raven with his elbow, he would just stare at him and lick his lips afterwards with a dazed expression on his face. What a help he is. He sighed when he finally saw the large gate leading to Fire Academy.

Only Sasuke and Naruto got out of the vehicle, Itachi and the two other adults were contented with just watching from the window.

"We might go shopping later, okay?" Kushina told the two boys.

"Don't worry, son. I've prepared my blowpipe in case your mom goes berserk at the mall." Minato and Naruto shared a good laugh as Kushina just pouted at the passenger seat.

Naruto bent down to place a kiss on his mom's cheek and then reached over to bump fists with his dad. It had been a habit of the three of them to do this every time Naruto would leave.

"Bye!" Naruto waved while Sasuke bowed at them. The car left but not before Itachi had stated, "There are other wolves around to target Foxy, Little brother." Naruto blushed but did not comment since Minato had sped off already.

The blonde started to walk towards the school as other students filed inside the campus, Sasuke trailing behind him.

"Naruto! Hey! NARUTO!"

The said blonde stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Is someone calling me Sasuke?" He asked, needing someone to confirm it. The raven just shrugged as a response, both of his pinky fingers inside his ears to cover them from the loud voice. "I didn't hear anything." Yeah, right.

"Eh? I was so sure I heard my name being ca-" He was suddenly shoved violently and fell down on the ground.

He stood up quickly, getting ready to get back on the retard who had just pushed him hard. "Hey! What gives?" After dusting his pants off and lifting his head, he was met with a surprise.

"Sakura-chan!"

Naruto ran to his pink-headed best friend. She was smiling fondly at him as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging him back in the process. Sasuke scowled at his position a little far from them. He crossed his arms over his chest and settled himself with a glare. Damn girl.

"I missed you, Naruto." Sakura pulled back and chuckled. "You've grown in the few months we haven't seen each other." She pinched his cheek while he pouted.

"I missed you, too. But you don't have to abuse me all the time!"

"Why didn't you respond when I was calling you a while ago?" She whacked him on the head. "Idiot!"

Naruto didn't fight back though, he just put on a sheepish expression. "Well, its actually Sasuke's fault here." He pointed his thumb at the raven's direction. "He lied to me about not hearing anything." Sakura followed where Naruto was pointing at, with her eyes. She blinked twice and then smiled.

"You haven't introduced us yet, silly."

The blonde motioned for Sasuke to come closer and he did. "This is Sakura Haruno, one of my best friends, she's a sophomore too." He leaned in a little closer to the raven to whisper. "She can be really violent at times. Just look at how she interacts with me."

Sakura coughed which made Naruto straighten up.

"This is Sasuke Uchiha. My..." _Damn, I forgot to think of something as a cover up._ "My..."

Both Sakura and Sasuke raised their eyebrows in question at the blonde. He racked his brain for any reasonable excuse. "...Neighbor."

"You're his neighbor?" The pink-haired girl turned to the Uchiha, she didn't seem to recognize him.

"_Was_ my neighbor," Naruto corrected. "Mom said it was before we moved here." _I can't believe that had been helpful in this situation._

After the introductions, the two newly-acquainted people shook hands with each other. Naruto said that they'd be meeting more people later on. He was quite surprised when Sasuke hadn't acted like a bastard even once. He would still answer with 'Hn' but other than that, he didn't piss the blonde off anymore. He was quite thankful for that, no need to comment on the sudden change.

The trio were walking on the hallway as they headed to their first class. Naruto was ranting about his hatred for ties when suddenly, an arm wrapped around his waist and stopped him from continuing to do anything. His two companions halted also then they both turned around. One had a smile on her face while the other had a scowl back in place. Naruto had yet to see who his 'captor' was.

"Morning, Kit," a smooth voice greeted closely to his ear.

Naruto twisted his head a little to glance at the other. He gave him a bright smile after seeing who the person was. "Morning, Sai."

Sakura nodded at him and he did the same in greeting.

The dark haired male didn't let go of the blonde's waist, though. But after a bit of struggling and whining on Naruto's part, he reluctantly did. He smiled at the blonde once more, a smile only reserved for him. And then Naruto suddenly remembered.

"Oh!" He stepped away a little and gestured towards Sasuke. "This is-"

"Sasuke Uchiha," the raven introduced himself with a glare. Sai seemed to notice the contempt in the other's tone as his smile was replaced with a fake one.

"Sai," he replied. _No last name._ Sasuke was slightly surprised.

Just when Naruto was about to resume walking, he was pulled back in against Sai's chest, his arms around him. "I hope you are treating _my_ Kit nicely, Sasuke-kun."

**

* * *

**LavenYuu: Done. Finally. I'm not sure if my lack of update is caused by writer's block or just plain laziness.

Sasuke: *snorts* It has to be plain laziness.

Naruto: *glares* Stop bullying her! You should be thankful she made you appear already.

LavenYuu: *sighs* Thanks for that. . . I just hope our readers won't get tired of _me_ or this story.

Sasuke: They might if you don't continue updating.

Naruto: *shows the 'Naruto look' to Sasuke*

Sasuke: ...Hn. I'll be in my emo corner if you need me, ja.

Naruto: I'll be sure to keep an eye on him for you!

LavenYuu: I appreciate your help. *hi-fives with the blonde* Anyway, Sasuke, you forgot something.

**Sasuke: ...Leave a review... *sighs* ...please.**


	4. Yuutou

Another chapter here xD

Oh gad, the exam week was hellish. Physics was a pain in the ass, i never knew I could finish it. Lol. I'm glad its almost our summer vacation though~ I don't deserve to suffer! D: Well, not that much xD

Wow. Thankie once again for all the support you have given me and this fic. There were lots of story and author alerts and faves. I'm really, really, _really_ grateful for that!  
But is it too much to ask for more reviews? *sobs* I only get 5-6 reviews per chapter. It saddens me.. ):

Anyway! On with the story~

**DISCLAIMER: MK _and _Sasuke had shown some proof that they are the rightful owners of Naruto; MK handing out a copy of his official ownership and Sasuke exposing Naruto's neck. A hickey was on the tan spot.**

***cough* Just _how_ could I compete with that? *cough*

* * *

_Reca_****_p. . ._**

_"Morning, Kit," a smooth voice greeted closely to his ear._

_Naruto twisted his head a little to glance at the other. He gave him a bright smile after seeing who the person was. "Morning, Sai."_

_Sakura nodded at him and he did the same in greeting._

_The dark haired male didn't let go of the blonde's waist, though. But after a bit of struggling and whining on Naruto's part, he reluctantly did. He smiled at the blonde once more, a smile only reserved for him. And then Naruto suddenly remembered._

_"Oh!" He stepped away a little and gestured towards Sasuke. "This is-"_

_"Sasuke Uchiha," the raven introduced himself with a glare. Sai seemed to notice the contempt in the other's tone as his smile was replaced with a fake one._

_"Sai," he replied. No last name. Sasuke was slightly surprised._

_Just when Naruto was about to resume walking, he was pulled back in against Sai's chest, his arms around him. "I hope you are treating my Kit nicely, Sasuke-kun."_

**

* * *

**

**In Between**

**Chapter 4: Camaraderie**

* * *

Sasuke growled loudly at the intruder who dared touch Naruto in such a way. Unlike his brother, he wasn't a pacifist. Not even in the least bit. And so, he often resorted to violent methods back in Konoha to get something done, or to do things his way.

Now was one of the times he would gladly finish off a... vile creature just for the sake of keeping his blonde safe. He didn't trust this Sai-person, his smile reeked of suspiciousness.

The four of them were still standing at the hallway. Lots of students had passed by, each giving them curious looks as they walked past them. Though, the main focus of attention, looks and low murmurs were on Sasuke and Naruto.

"I'll kill you," Sasuke said, words laced with such venom. Perhaps his glare would suffice already as a murdering device. No need to taint his hands or his blonde's uniform with the other raven's blood.

"I'd like to see you try." Sai tilted his head to the side in a mocking gesture, the movement proved to be successful in further annoying the hell out of the Uchiha. He was _so_ not going down without a fight.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes more and gritted his teeth at this. After he was done murdering the other teen, he would gladly use his head as a mop._ Ah, but then, the fake smile would be quite unnerving to look at all the time._ In a few more seconds, he positioned himself and slowly pulled out a kunai from up his sleeve. The action went unnoticed by the other two, but Naruto wasn't fooled for the second time.

When he had seen the Duck-butt do the same trick last night while he was showing off his skills, he knew that the raven was seriously considering the thought of killing Sai. What, with his deadly moves complete with dangerous aura and all, their first encounter was proof enough of his capabilities.

This time, Naruto was quick to act. As he saw the tip of the kunai poking out, he moved forward and flailed his arms around to block the view of the sharp weapon Sasuke was currently wielding.

"It's almost time for classes to start guys! Better not be late on the second day, right?" Naruto was still standing between the two ravens, unsure of what else to say or do in that situation. He was smiling awkwardly.

Sakura seemed to notice the tense atmosphere as she put a hand on Sai's shoulder. "Let's go buddy, we have our own class to attend to." The pink-haired girl kept nudging him with her elbow until she heard him grunt in response.

"We'll meet up later at lunch," Sakura reminded them, especially the blonde. "I'm sure the others are excited to see you again after not being able to for God-knows-how-long. Oh," she paused and then blinked at the pair. "Bring your... 'boyfriend' with you." She winked and then smirked knowingly. The statement alone had made Naruto blush.

"H-He's just a friend!"

_A friend?_ Sasuke and Sai thought. One in disappointment while the other in satisfaction.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll meet up at the cafeteria, don't forget." Sakura giggled and then started walking off towards their class.

Sai glanced back at Naruto and then walked closer to him. "See you later, Kit." He kissed him on the cheek, adding more heat to the blonde's red face.

Naruto didn't know if the raven had done that just to spite Sasuke, or he was reliving their habits in the previous years. After all, they used to do _those_ kinds of things. Intimate gestures, clashing of bodies and wandering hands were nothing new whenever they would meet, minus the touching of lips and lower regions. Naruto forbid that saying, 'It's okay to be playful, but not too much'. After the gesture, Sai gave one of his rare smiles again and then left.

Naruto blinked and then looked to his side. "I'm sorry if Sai makes you feel uncomfortable." Sasuke just cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"Um... he's gay. He openly admits it so there's no need to hide the fact especially after seeing his actions." The blonde laughed a little which made the Uchiha annoyed for some reason. Where was this conversation leading to anyway? Why was Naruto telling him this? He didn't need to know that bastard's preference.

"I know you don't swing that way." Sasuke felt his stomach drop. "So if you ever feel awkward about how we interact, just say so, okay? Just, lay off the weapons and dangerous moves." Naruto grinned and then started tugging on his hand.

"What about you?" the Uchiha asked in a surprisingly quiet voice which made the blonde turn around to face him.

"What about me?"

Sasuke snorted. "Are you like him also?" He refused to say the foul being's name.

"I'm bi!" he answered confidently and cheerfully.

The only response Naruto got from Sasuke was a barely detectable grunt.

"Come on, teme! Iruka-sensei might start shouting any minute now."

Sasuke remained quiet as he let himself be dragged by the blonde by the hand. He didn't care. Naruto's hand was warm and it was rather comforting to him.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Here, here." The blonde haired teen gestured to a seat beside his at the second to the last row of the classroom. "This is my favorite spot, teachers barely come here and we're beside the window."

Sasuke continued to look around the room. He had long since found out he was attracting unwanted attention from the other students, all he did was ignore them. Girls were whispering about him, giggling even. Guys were sending confused looks and some, glares.

The Uchiha seemed to be a self-important person to them. The heated glare Sasuke was now sending them didn't help the first impression he was giving. Naruto noticed the whole affair so he immediately stood beside Sasuke after putting down his things on his desk.

"Morning guys! I hope you don't mind my _friend_ here." He slung an arm around the raven haired male and then grinned. "He just came to this place so he's still adapting to his new environment."

There were whispers and murmurs going on again and Naruto couldn't help but glance at his companion. Sasuke was merely gazing out the window with a passive face. Naruto sighed and turned back to his other classmates.

"Please don't think bad of him_."_ He showed them one of his pitiful and convincing looks, clutching at the front of his shirt for more effect. "_Please._"

Most of the people gasped at the pleading look and backed down. Sasuke had looked back at the blonde beside him, he could barely hide the amusement he felt. Naruto, of course, was smirking inwardly. He was never getting tired of this. He met gazes with the raven and narrowed his eyes at him. _Be grateful to me, you __bastard._

Naruto reverted his focus back to the rest of the class. "I'm sorry if he appeared to be a complete asshole-" Sasuke hissed quietly. "-but I can assure you, he's not that bad. Trust me on this, ne?" He flashed them a bright smile and then instantly, girls started to swoon and boys blushed a crimson red.

By that time, their homeroom teacher stepped inside the classroom to begin their day at school. Iruka-sensei took almost a lot of effort to quiet down the class. Albeit he did that everyday and every morning also in the previous years, he still couldn't get used to it.

The Uchiha leaned in to the other teen to whisper in his ear, "I never knew you had _this_ much influence on people, dobe." He smirked while sitting down at his place.

Though, he didn't know if he should be mad or happy about this thing. People were sending looks of adoration towards his blonde. No doubt the idiot had his own fanclub as well in this school. For his part, the girls after him were still not being minded at all. Why would he anyway? He wasn't _that_ kind (at all) like Naruto.

There were still some students throwing various things towards each other when the clock struck eight fourteen. Several crumpled papers were in the air, a shoe flew by and even their math books went past.

"Careful teme, I may suddenly put this 'influence' to good use." Naruto wagged his eyebrows and grinned mischievously as he whispered. "I could be in control of everything _and _everyone around you in a flash."

Sasuke didn't doubt his blonde's power. Not one bit.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Who is this arrogant boy, Naruto?

Sasuke scoffed. "You're one to talk."

"I don't want Naruto to catch your bastardness."

"...That's what I said before, Gaara."

"Hn."

Gaara eyed the other from head to toe. He was inspecting him as if he carried germs that might contaminate his blonde friend and make him glare all the time or worse, cause him to go 'Hn' on people.

The redhead pulled Naruto by the hand to keep him behind him, shielding the other from the raven.

"I don't like you," he stated bluntly with a monotonous tone.

"I don't give a damn." Sasuke pulled the blonde back behind him.

Gaara growled, opening and closing his fists slowly while sending warning looks. "I hate your guts."

"Feel free to hate it more."

Naruto looked between the two. They were _both _arrogant. But of course, neither would admit that fact to anybody, even to themselves. _How did things turn out this way anyway...?_ Naruto almost groaned out loud due to frustration. He knew these two wouldn't get along well, but he was confident enough that they would soon realize their similarities and then start a beautiful friendship out in the open.

Though it seemed quite impossible, Naruto was still _hoping._

Now, back to the matter at hand. It was their break time and Sasuke had somehow forced the blonde into showing him around during that period. They were walking leisurely around the school grounds, past different hallways and inside several public rooms. For someone who's been forced into doing something, Naruto was actively informing Sasuke of every place they went to, like a real tour guide.

When they reached the rather large playground at the farthest part at the back of the school, a new intruder (according to Sasuke) had appeared.

"Aw, c'mon guys," Naruto whined, throwing his hands up in the air exasperatedly. "At least introduce yourselves first properly before you start getting on each other's nerves."

No one moved, nothing changed. Even the intimidating glares being thrown off by said individuals were put off.

"Please!"

The two males grunted, but complied anyway with calculating narrowed eyes. The redhead was the first to make the move as he stepped forward and reached out a hand to the other.

"Gaara Sabaku." Only then did the Uchiha take the offered hand.

"Sasuke Uchiha." They shook hands and then retracted them after the _somewhat_ unfriendly handshake, seeing as how they nearly crushed each other's hand with the supposed familiar gesture.

Naruto grinned and then exclaimed, "We gotta go back, we've journeyed far enough already." He began to walk towards the path they came from, still excited from the tour he was giving. "We'll meet up later at lunch!"

It was the cue for the blonde and the raven to part ways with him. Gaara was having none of that.

"I'm coming with you."

"Eh?" Naruto stopped in his tracks, surprised as Gaara was already next to him.

"I said I'm-"

"-leaving for the next class," Sasuke finished with a scowl.

Crossing his arms might have been a good idea to increase his look of pure annoyance, but he just settled with the thought of grabbing the dobe's hand and storming off. The redhead, once again, was having none of that. He easily kept in stride with them, choosing to be beside Sasuke this time to give him a piece of his mind.

"I wasn't finished talking with Naruto," Gaara hissed, glaring straight into the Uchiha's eyes. "Asshole."

Sasuke just snorted at this. "Pardon us, Gaara-_san_, but I don't wish to be late on my first day of school. I doubt Naruto would want to be as well." He smirked when the redhead showed a slightly defeated expression which was soon gone.

"My next class _is_ with Naruto, Sasuke-_san_."

Naruto who was a little far behind the two couldn't make out what exactly they were talking about. He had let go of Sasuke's hand when they started having a _peaceful _conversation. He could hear Sasuke 'Hn' every now and then, while Gaara on the other hand, would release a growl disapprovingly. He only raised an eyebrow at them. If they were bickering at the moment, they were doing a pretty good job at avoiding colliding with people. They were now in the hallway but not once did they bumped into someone.

Naruto overtook the pair as he saw the classroom they were supposed to go in. He stepped inside and then turned around to face the two, putting his hands on his hips while waiting for the argument to die down.

"Stop touching him. No, don't get near him," Gaara said calmly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't remember giving permission to a certain redhead to tell me what to do," Sasuke replied, his arms in the same fashion as his bickering partner.

They were about to continue when they felt tugging on their uniform's sleeves. They both looked to their side and saw Naruto with a pout on his face, his hands still on each of their sleeves.

"Let's stop now, ne? Break time is almost over. Raidou-sensei might be on his way now, and its Math!" Naruto gripped harder onto the fabric. "Math I tell you! I need to prepare myself mentally, physically and emotionally!" He let go of both of them and resorted to mumbling to himself instead, making his way towards his usual seat at the back.

Gaara and Sasuke stopped staring at the blonde and then glanced at each other. They were communicating through their glares. It would be hard for other people to understand since there are only a select few who are able to express a lot without needing words. The two of them were well-versed in the art of relaying their messages _specifically_ through their eyes.

_Don't test my patience, human. _Gaara narrowed his eyes more.

_You judge me too quick, creature. _Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Your aura doesn't exactly exude being a normal person," Gaara stated which made Sasuke's eyebrow twitch.

"Good morning-"

"Shut your mouth." The person was cut off by the raven who was more focused on glaring daggers at Gaara.

"Now may be the time to-"

"I'll cut your tongue." The new voice was once again interrupted, by the redhead this time, who was intent on killing Sasuke with his deadly eyes alone.

"Gentlemen, it would be quite _nice_ if both of you would just sit down, listen to _me_ and take down notes." The voice now held a more authoritative and stern tone to it, as opposed to the one used earlier which was a little pleasant than this one. This tone now suggested they follow unless they would like to face dire, _dire_ consequences.

Both looked up and saw a scowling man with a scar on his face.

"For those of you who still do not know me," he turned to the rest of class whose noise had been subdued already. "I am Raidou Namiashi, your Math teacher." His glare was now aimed at the two students _still _blocking the doorway.

Both looked up and saw their scowling Math teacher, ready to give detention for their disrespect earlier.

Naruto snickered at his seat, both hands behind his head.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"You know, he isn't really _that_ bad once you get used to his antics." Naruto stood in line and waited for his turn.

Sasuke looked appalled when he looked up from his bowed head. "Dobe, I don't think there will be a good side to that_... thing_." He waited behind the blonde as they lined up in the cafeteria.

"Don't be like that, teme!" Naruto wagged a finger and glanced at him from his shoulder. "Genma-sensei is very knowledgeable when it comes to Biology. He's just like that when... um, he gets excited over things." He let out a small laugh while Sasuke sighed.

"Nevermind, let's just get on with this reunion of yours with your friends." He gave the idiot a shove forward to keep him going. His bastardy ways were being revealed again.

"Hey, hey! No need to push! I know your hungry and all but I'm not exactly better off than you!" Naruto huffed, slightly annoyed.

As soon as they got their food, they went to an empty table. They were sitting across from each other. Things were going smoothly even as Sasuke would constantly complain of the noise in the cafeteria and the blonde not picking a better place to eat at. Once again, they were being stared at by people, mostly girls. It wasn't a bad thing though, but the Uchiha hated too much attention. He had a lot of fans already back in Konoha, no need a new group here.

"Well, I promised Sakura-chan we'd meet them here." He slurped his ramen cheerfully. His school serves his most favorite food of all. How amazing is that? Ramen at home _and _school. He just hoped no one would tell his mom or else she'll confiscate their ramen stocks at home and might even consider the thought of eradicating them one by one in front of him while he was tied to a chair. _Oh God... the horror._

Sasuke pondered a certain thought in his head. He glanced up from his tomato salad and gazed at Naruto. This might be the only chance he could get to be alone with him. His friends, and some teachers, constantly pop up. You never know when they would appear next. Even at home, interruptions like Itachi occur. _Better clarify things now.  
_

"Dobe."

"Hm?"

"I'm gay." The statement was said with a passive face and such calmness that Naruto was having a hard time choosing between laughing and gaping.

The blonde male swallowed first the lump of ramen in his throat and then chose the latter of his two choices. He gaped and dropped his chopsticks slowly on the bowl. Naruto didn't know how else to respond to that so he settled himself with, "...Oh."

And then gaped more after that _intelligible_ reply.

It seemed like several minutes, which was really only a few seconds, when Sakura and the rest of Naruto's gang showed up. Their entrance was obvious thanks to the brunette who was being loud as they walked towards their table. _A second idiot, I presume?_ Sasuke's gaze flickered over to Sai as he made his way stealthily behind Naruto, who haven't recovered yet from his shock. Was it that hard to believe that he was gay?

Naruto was now getting flocked by his friends who kept on bombarding him with questions.

Sasuke lifted his gaze off of the pale guy and looked over four other people. Two blonde females, another brunette aside from the loud one and a male with bowl-cut shape hair. Gaara was there too, of course. Though, he looked more approachable now that he was sitting beside Naruto.

The second idiot sat on his right and had a grin plastered to his face. Sasuke still resumed eating his food.

"So, you must be the Sasuke-guy, huh?"

He merely spared him a glance and then arched an eyebrow.

"Not the talkative type? Right." The brunette continued to just grin at him, not even minding the peace Sasuke had enjoyed while eating.

"Sakura said you were Naruto's boyfriend but Sai and Gaara rejected that idea and said you were just a bastard." Sasuke's left eye twitched even as he remained silent.

"Cut him some slack, dog-breath. The guy's having a peaceful meal." Naruto called over from his crowd of friends.

'Dog-breath' smirked. "Nah, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to interrogate this new guy."

Sasuke just hoped he wouldn't be in bad terms with this brunette also. For his first day at Fire Academy, things weren't exactly good for him. Except for the time that he _accidentally_ groped his blonde _thrice _when they were passing through a crowded place.

Yeah, that was memorable indeed.

* * *

I finished this chapter last Wednesday. But for _some_ reason, i keep getting error messages when i wanna update.

Please excuse the typos, if you see any.

More reviews gives me more motivation to write~~~

Oh c'mon. Pleaseeeeee.


	5. Utagai

An update? For real? The authoress of **In Between** _just updated?_! Lol. Yes, well, I'm kinda in the mood to write. So you can't blame me for this! I still can't decide the best summary for this fic. I've even changed it thrice now. Damn. Oh, and _every_ time I try to update, _some_ annoying things suddenly occur. Last time, the error in editing the stories, this time, I lost internet connection for almost a week. :sighs:

Btw, chap 3 had 4,213 words while chap 4 had 4,231. No, I did not measure it. Yes, it was a matter of coincidence. Lol. I just got surprised that's why I'm sharing this info xD

**Note:** I will be using Namikaze-Uzumaki for Naruto's _full_ name. Other times, it will only be Uzumaki. So please don't be confused if you happen to be. :smiles:

**DISCLAIMER: I saw Sasuke pacing back and forth in front of a heavily guarded room. I tried asking him where Naru-chan is but he only hissed at me. I shrugged and walked away.  
I don't own Naruto. . . but maybe I can try?**

**(I see a flying _door_ pass by me suddenly)**

**LVY: What the fu-  
Sasuke: _MINE!  
_LVY: ...**

* * *

**_Recap. . ._**

_"So, you must be the Sasuke-guy, huh?"_

_He merely spared him a glance and then arched an eyebrow._

_"Not the talkative type? Right." The brunette continued to just grin at him, not even minding the peace Sasuke had enjoyed while eating._

_"Sakura said you were Naruto's boyfriend but Sai and Gaara rejected that idea and said you were just a bastard." Sasuke's left eye twitched even as he remained silent._

_"Cut him some slack, dog-breath. The guy's having a peaceful meal." Naruto called over from his crowd of friends._

_'Dog-breath' smirked. "Nah, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to interrogate this new guy."_

_Sasuke just hoped he wouldn't be in bad terms with this brunette also. For his first day at Fire Academy, things weren't exactly good for him. Except for the time that he _accidentally_ groped his blonde _thrice _when they were passing through a crowded place._

_Yeah, that was memorable indeed_.

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 5: Uncertainty**

* * *

"Sasuke Uchiha. Nice to meet you."

This time, it was the Uchiha who initiated the introduction. Better leave a somewhat good impression to avoid the increase in his enemies. One redhead and raven was quite handful already thanks to their stubborn, possessive and arrogant attitude. Not that Sasuke didn't possess those traits. He mentally snorted. He doubted he was any better than those two.

"Kiba Inuzuka. Nice to meet you too!"

The brunette flashed him a wide, toothy grin. When Sasuke was boredly reaching his hand out for a handshake, Kiba ignored it whole-heartedly and proceeded to thump the pale teen's back a bit too hard. The raven glared at the other teen for the action but it was once again ignored. It seems that Naruto wasn't kidding when he had told him about Gaara glaring all the time. Kiba wasn't affected anymore either.

"I see that you're another addition to the 'Silent Type' in our group. Those two never talked too much unless it's related to our favorite blonde." He jabbed his thumb towards the direction of Sai and Gaara.

Sai was once again very, _very_ close to Naruto. The thought did not register well in Sasuke's mind but he forced himself to stay calm and collected. He didn't need another situation like the one that morning. Still, his hand was itching to grab the nearest object, person (namely Kiba), _anything_, and hurl it at the raven giving fake smiles.

The redhead, on the other hand, was casually sitting at the table beside theirs. His eyes were fixed on the energetic blonde who enjoyed talking more now that there was more company. Ever since Sakura and the rest arrived, they had managed to pull Naruto away from the table Sasuke and Kiba were currently occupying.

His food finally consumed, Sasuke began to feel irritation building up inside of him.

"Sai usually joins in the conversation just to provide us some uh, perverted information. He's a good guy once you get past those creepy, fake smiles." Kiba chuckled, scratching his cheek while in thought. "Ah, Gaara's quiet most of the time, he doesn't really entertain the thought of wasting his breath, talking. He's not so bad to be around with actually, just ignore the terrifying glare."

Sasuke raised an elegant brow here, arms now crossed over his chest.

Kiba only mimicked the action, confused by the sudden questioning gesture. And then it hit him. "Right, right. You possess one of those deadly glares that mere _mortals_ like us cannot accomplish. It has no effect on you," Kiba said in mock-distress and continued to babble.

Once again, Sasuke's irritation had flared up to a whole new level. What was he doing here again? Why was this idiot talking to him about people he didn't want to be concerned with? The mutt was even making wild gestures and annoying sounds to prove a _point._ Sasuke was not a patient person. He clenched his fist under the table and then looked around subtly. When he caught sight of a happily chattering Naruto, the stern glare of his eyes softened and returned to their passive look.

"-then Naruto and I bashed each other right behind our homeroom tea-" Kiba was silenced as Sasuke calmly raised a hand. The look he was getting was authoritative even without spoken words.

"Tell me about the dobe," Sasuke told the loud-mouthed brunette beside him. His tone was simply of curiosity and… longing? Kiba wasn't sure.

"We hadn't talked much since I just came to this city. We were separated before and I would appreciate it if you would understand and tell stories about his self and his family, and not his… adventures," Sasuke added in a light tone. _Damn this._ He mentally cursed.

Kiba still hesitated a bit but he was more than happy to comply. If the two were childhood friends, Sasuke deserved to know some things about his buddy.

"Well you see, we haven't really met him for too long. We've known him only from three years ago. It was a little odd, really. You know, the Namikaze-Uzumaki family…" Kiba trailed off, as if unsure on how to further proceed with his story.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke's interest grew even more.

He had been separated from the blonde ever since they were thirteen year olds. Up to now, no one had ever explained to him what truly happened back then and why they needed to part. Sasuke was beyond furious at his family at that time. Whenever he asked them about it, they would evade it like he should be left out of the subject pertaining to his Naruto. His father would just remind him of his ninja duties, his mother would smile kindly and pat his head and often times his brother would merely stare at him as if he had heard nothing.

After several months, he finally gave up questioning them and hoped for the best for the blonde. He was wishing silently to himself, that one day, he'd be able to meet up with Naruto again.

"Our school administrator, Jiraiya-sama, is Naruto's godfather and he also owns _Icha Icha Productions._" Kiba's voice brought Sasuke back to the present. He forced himself to focus and forget the lingering anger he had had at his family.

"Three years ago also he had introduced his nephew, Minato Namikaze, as the president of the renowned publishing company. He had never mentioned him before, and Minato-san's sudden appearance surprised us all, even the media."

Sasuke nodded slightly to indicate he was listening intently. His brows were a little furrowed while he took up all the information regarding Naruto and his family.

"Even the construction of his large house- you've been to his place, right?- was a little strange." Kiba crossed his arms and nodded to himself. The raven only raised a brow at him, willing him to explain further without stopping.

"If you look closer, everything is made of wood. Even some of the pieces of furniture were made of the finely carved ones. No one at this city builds houses made of wood _that_ nicely. Plus!"

Kiba gulped and leaned a bit closer to Sasuke, as if to whisper a big, big secret.

"During those times, we passed by the lot Naruto's house is currently occupying, and you know what, it was empty!" the brunette whispered a bit loudly "The next day, we passed by it again and… the amazing, extravagant, magnificent and glorious-" Sasuke rolled his eyes at this but said nothing. "-house was already built. I was like, 'What the fudge nuggets?'. Even Sakura says it's kinda weird! Who builds houses that fast?"

_If the house was made of mostly wood,_ Sasuke thought._ There's only one person alive in Konoha who could manipulate its nature and use it to construct buildings._

"Well anyway man, Naruto's family is really great. Blondie and I have been best friends ever since we met each other. Though we've been in countless friendly fights, we treat each other like brothers. Kushina-san is very kind, outgoing and sometimes aggressive- I guess that's where Naruto got his attitude, huh?- and his dad is a genius! Like whoa, he knows a lot of things in different areas even if he claimed to be new to several things here. He's kinda like an overgrown Naruto," Kiba continued with a lighter mood now.

"They're a little odd but they're very nice." The brunette grinned while Sasuke nodded in affirmation. He already knew them since what, a kid? A toddler?

"Did you know about Naruto's obsession over ramen? He eats it no matter the time of the day; day, noon, night!" Kiba went over a different topic now to ease the somewhat tense mood between them.

"Oh I do know about the dobe's crazy obsession over that _damn _thing." Sasuke emphasized it more by narrowing his eyes. "Actually, Naruto and I have had several arguments regarding it. Not to mention, I hate that junk as if it was the bane of my existence," the raven stated, voice laced with such hatred and annoyance.

"Why would you even fight over _ramen?_" The incredulity in Kiba's voice couldn't be hidden.

Sasuke snorted. "Because the thing itself takes up _too much_ of Naruto's attention from me," he answered as if it was the most logical explanation in the world.

Kiba gaped and then laughed nervously, unsure of any way on how else to respond. "I feel for ya." He was about to pat Sasuke on the back when the raven suddenly used his meaner, more menacing and more vicious glare on the poor mutt. The brunette immediately retracted his hand. If he weren't used to Gaara's own glare, he might have wetted his pants already after seeing this one.

Suddenly, they both heard squeals and giggles from nearby tables. It seemed that Sasuke was beginning to grow popular among the girls, too. He glared at the crowd and then turned away, facing Naruto's group now.

"Someone's having a fanclub already~" The brunette smirked while the Uchiha just scowled.

The squeals only got louder.

"Sasuke! Kiba! Come over here. I gotta introduce teme to the rest of the gang." Naruto waved them over with a large grin on his face.

Thank God he had the dobe with him. Now he had a more valuable reason to leave the irritating women near them.

"Hn."

The growing number of noisy, squealing fangirls did not even hinder Kiba and Sasuke as they stood up and walked over to the loudmouth's spot. As soon as they were beyond reach of Naruto, the blonde pulled them over by their hands and told them to sit down. Kiba took one side of him since it was now vacant but Sasuke had to subtly (in the most stealthy and painful way) jab Sai in the ribs to get him to move. The once-smiling teen glared but had to evacuate from his beloved position beside Naruto to give space to the triumphantly smirking raven.

"Okay men!"

There were three sets of heated glares aimed at him that were threatening to cause severe pain. Naruto quickly added, "And women!" And the glares instantly vanished after.

"Line up here across from us!" He commanded in mock-serious tone and gestured to the other side of the table.

The others obeyed without complaining while Kiba groaned. He just sat down and then he had to immediately change seats.

"You've already met Sakura, Sai and Gaara right?" Naruto asked Sasuke, smiling. Sakura waved cheerfully at them while Sai and Gaara stared passively.

A not-so subtle cough was heard but was ignored. The blonde simply shrugged and continued, "Soooo, let's start here with-"

Again, a cough. Naruto tried his best not to grit his teeth in irritation. "Now teme, meet-"

Another cough was heard, but this time it was loud. Loud and lasted longer, as if the person was already dying an inescapable, tragic death. Naruto dramatically rolled his eyes and propped his chin on one hand. "Yes, Kiba, Sasuke had already met you too." The brunette grinned.

"Now if you _please_, shut the hell up already so I could start off with the damn introductions?"

Kiba whimpered and everyone wore amused expressions, except for Sasuke and Gaara who smirked instead. The blonde's tone of voice alone was enough to make a_ true_ man cry of fright. Naruto sighed and shook his head. After his annoyance faded away, he grinned and then went on.

"This is Rock Lee." He gestured to the guy with the bowl-cut hair, large eyes and thick eyebrows.

"Yoh!" Lee saluted with a dazzling smile. Somehow, Sasuke couldn't help but flinch at that action.

"Yamanaka Ino." The blonde girl with long bangs winked at him. "Hi!"

"Sabaku Kankuro." The brunette lazily raised a hand in greeting.

"Sabaku Temari." Another blonde with four pigtails nodded at him.

The silent raven looked them all one by one in the eye. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto slammed his left hand on the table. "Well, that's the last of 'em." He was laughing away without a care in the world when suddenly, his ear got pinched by an aggressive pink haired teen.

"Naruto, you idiot! You made my strawberry juice spill after you _thoughtfully_ shook the table with your hand!"

"Ow, ow, ow, _ow! _Sakura-chaaaaan! Stop! I'm sor-"

"No! Buy me a new one!" She tugged harder and Sasuke felt his hands twitch to pry the fingers off of his blond.

Instead of helping, Naruto's friends laughed at his demise. Sasuke was effectively drowning out the voices around him, save for the blonde's, of course. He couldn't relate to the topic they had since he was new here, to this world… to the blonde's life at the moment. He was feeling slightly jealous because even Gaara was participating sometimes in the conversations going around. He propped his chin on both hands and then looked away.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Temari got up from her seat and walked over to Kiba, pulling him by the arm to stand up as well.

"Where are we going?" he asked her in a confused tone. The blonde female just nodded her head towards the pillar a little far from their spot.

"Tema-chan!" Naruto called when he noticed they were leaving. "Come back quick! Don't let the mutt run away."

Some heads in the cafeteria turned at the voice. He was being loud and energetic as usual, but people didn't mind that, they were used to it and thought of it as a _natural phenomenon _at Fire Academy. What caught their attention though was what the blonde had called Temari. No one survived calling her Tema-chan in the previous years. Either the unfortunate souls end up in the hospital for being so beaten up or, they were so traumatized that they could only sit on the floor, swing back and forth, knees huddled close and their thumbs in their mouths.

Only Naruto got that privilege and it was what greatly surprised the other students.

"We won't take long," she reassured him with a smile, still dragging the brunette by the arm.

Kiba growled and pretended to be angry over being called a mutt. "I'll get you for this, Fox-face!" He shook his free hand and clenched his fist.

When they were far enough and out of hearing range, Temari let go and leaned on the pillar.

"Kiba?"

"Yes?"

"I thought you were going to question the Uchiha?"

"…" The brunette slammed his hand onto his forehead exasperatedly. "Crap! I totally forgot about that!"

Temari snorted. "I can see that. You were too busy talking about other things that aren't really important."

"Hey, hey, hey!" He put both of his hands on his hips. "It wasn't my fault that he was so eager to know about Naruto."

"Well, you just missed one of the few chances we have to annoy and interrogate him."

"I dunno about the interrogation part," he smirked and looked over at the bantering pair a little far from them. "But I can assure you, Temari, Naruto and I got all the time in the world to annoy the hell out of the 'Duck-butt', as Blondie had sweetly called him."

Temari crossed her arms and frowned. "I don't trust him… yet. He seems quite suspicious you know, for suddenly popping out of nowhere. I often catch him giving our blonde _that _look every now and then."

Kiba raised an eyebrow but remained quiet as he attentively listened to the other.

"I meant the look that Sai often gives him." She gestured towards her eyes and the brunette finally understood. "Naruto never even mentioned to us that he had a childhood friend. And I doubt it wasn't important that he'd forget about it," she continued, growing more serious as time passed by.

Finally, she sighed and uncrossed her arms. "I just want Naruto to be safe, especially around people we don't know," she continued with a quiet voice. She wasn't surprised when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We all do, Temari." Kiba stated with a grin. "That's why we'll go out this Friday evening to welcome Sasuke into the gang. We can get to know him better then."

The blonde nodded and looked back at the table her friends were occupying. Kiba followed her gaze and smiled when he saw Naruto happily throwing insults at the raven who took the loud words coolly. It's been a while since he saw his friend argue with somebody with such mirth.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Dear, why not take a rest for a while?" Soothing hands gently massaged tensed shoulders, willing them to relax. "You shouldn't overwork yourself. I'm sure our children will disapprove once they find out you are doing this again."

Dark, stern eyes lifted to gaze at his wife's kind face. He heaved a heavy sigh and placed a hand over one of the soft ones rubbing his shoulder. "I'll be finished in a few more moments. I have great trust in our friends in the other world but I cannot put aside this worry," Fugaku admitted in a low voice.

"I, myself, am feeling anxious. But we should also consider our own health. Especially you, since you are still not in a good state," Mikoto reprimanded her husband. "They will do fine, what worries me are the matters here."

Fugaku grunted in reply. "That bastard does not deserve a place here in Konoha. He should be exiled, banished once and for all. Thinking of him makes my blood boil already," he spat angrily.

Mikoto continued to soothe the ache in her beloved's body. "Danzou will surely be put to justice for his crimes. His acts are unforgivable but we have yet to find evidences to arrest him," she said in a sad tone. They couldn't stop the man's deeds without any proof of his law-breaking actions.

"Tch! Perhaps we need our dear comrades' assistance still?"

The dark haired woman smiled brightly and nodded. "How long does Itachi and Sasuke plan to stay there? I know it might still be dangerous here for them though I cannot help but miss them." She sighed and continued massaging her husband who seemed to relax by now.

Fugaku momentarily paused in his research of scrolls. He crossed his arms though his eyes had softened a little from looking stern. "I have a feeling our youngest is still busy reuniting with Minato's son. They might take longer than usual."

Mikoto tilted her head in wonder. "But isn't Naruto-kun's memory-"

"Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san," a voice suddenly spoke from the shadows. "Please excuse my intrusion but I would like to inform you that Danzou has halted his attacks according to Yamato. His men from earlier, though, are still scattered outside of the Uchiha compound. Shall we dispose of them?"

There was a brief silence before a clearing of throat was heard from the head of the Uchiha family.

"Eradicate the old man's dogs but keep one, namely the scum who is leading them right now, as a hostage. I will escort him myself to Tsunade-sama and then proceed with the interrogation."

"As you wish, Fugaku-san."

Mikoto tightened her hold on her husband and by then, he understood what she wanted and _needed _to say to put her at ease. Before the shadowed Nin could make his exit, he was abruptly stopped by the male Uchiha.

"Kakashi, as soon as this incident is over, I will send you to go check on my sons. I hope you will be prepared by then."

"Hai."

And all was quiet again. Save for the relieved sigh that escaped the dark haired woman's lips.

* * *

**AN:** Interrogation should have been the title of this fic. LOL. No SasuNaru here xD Sorry for that, but I thought I needed to put some info about the past _and_ present. I'll try to update quickly to make up for this one. Next chap is a flashback, SasuNaru moments of course. :p

**REVIEW REPLIES:**

**x. eya. x :** Thankie for waiting patiently for my update. xD Seriously though, I dunno if what I'm often experiencing is writer's block or just _plain_ laziness. :shrugs:

**Narutopokefan :** Sometimes, I don't even have any idea what happens next chapter either. Sometimes, the plot just pops up at random, _inconvenient_ times. Ugh. D:

**mangaromance :** Aww, thankie thankie. xD I'll need to learn to put more 'cute' situations. I dunno how those would come out though. A deprived Uchiha is a big no-no.

**Nanami La' Ame :** Oh my, thankie very much for reviewing every chapter of this fic. I hope you won't get tired of doing this for In Between. :bows gratefully: And yes, I can tell Naruto's going to suffer more in the future. :insert evil cackle here: Being an uke might be kinda hard on Naru-chan, ne?

**Emiko Estelle : **I shall be exerting more effort and force myself to stop being lazy. Though, it's really troublesome when no idea comes to mind. Gah. I'm starting to sound like Shika.

**popette : **Lol. Feel free to arrest Sai, but I doubt his charms won't get him away with it. He's a pro like that. xD Thankie for reviewing~

**Dusk Neko4 : **And moar shall be given. :smugs: I'm glad this fic seems cute to a lot. Thankie!

**xXloveless19Xx : **YESH! I whole-heartedly agree with your idea. :dances around like an idiot: Don't worry, I'll put it up next chapter. I'm excited for it too. xD Thankie very much!

**oONovaCrystallisOo : **If only Sasuke could have his way, no more hormonal males will be able to get close to his Naruto within 30 feet. :winks:

**Sazzy : **I'll gladly comply with that. :laughs evilly: Be prepared for Possessive!Sasuke when SaiNaru occurs~

**And to all who have read, put on alert and favorited _In Between…_ Thank you very, very, _very_ much!**

**I hope you would take your time to leave a review, no matter how short it is. :D**


	6. Omoide

Special thanks to** xXloveless19Xx** for the flashback suggestion :smiles:

**DISCLAIMER: I saw Sasuke pacing back and forth in front of a heavily guarded room. I tried asking him where Naru-chan is but he only hissed at me. I shrugged and walked away.  
I don't own Naruto. . . but maybe I can try?**

**(I see a flying **_**door**_** pass by me suddenly)**

**Me: What the fu-  
Sasuke: **_**MINE!  
**_**Me: …Masashi Kishimoto sent you, huh?  
Sasuke: *ignores me and goes back to pacing***

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 5: Reminiscence**

* * *

Bright blue eyes gazed curiously out the window at the setting sun, watching it slowly vanish into the horizon. His soft blonde hair swayed with the cool breeze of the night, he couldn't help but giggle a little as it tickled his skin. Turning away from the night sky where his attention was previously at, he glanced up at the woman beside him.

"Mommy, why does the sun go away?" A four-year old Naruto asked his smiling mother. "Can't he stay a bit longer?"

Kushina made a fake confused face and then tapped a finger on her chin, seemingly in thought. "I don't think he can stay too long because it's time for Mr. Moon to do his job at night."

The child tilted his head to the side in a questioning manner, eyes wide open and brows knitted cutely. "But why? Can't they be together? Won't they be sad if they're apart?" A sudden thought struck his head, making him gasp and clutch his mother's dress.

"D-Do they hate each other that's why they're not together?" Naruto was almost teary-eyed as he asked this.

Kushina chuckled and then knelt down on her knees to be on eye level with her son. She gently clutched his shoulders and then said slowly, "Sweetie, the Sun and Moon don't hate each other. In fact," she stood up and lifted her child, who had outstretched his arms to her. "They're very good friends." The redheaded woman smiled reassuringly when Naruto's eyes widened even more.

"Really, Mommy?" He was so excited hearing it that he swung his feet while his mother carried him. "The Sun and Moon?"

"Mhm. When you go out with your dad and remember what I told you tonight, look up at the sky." She nuzzled his giggling son's cheek. "Look closer and you'll find the Moon in the same sky as the Sun, only not as bright as his friend is."

Kushina started rubbing his son's back gently up and down. "Mr. Moon faithfully watches over Mr. Sun at day while he shines brightly. And when it's time for the Sun to sleep, the Moon takes over for him and shines brilliantly in return."

Naruto yawned softly and laid his cheek on his mother's shoulder. "I wish I have a friend like that, Mommy." His big, watery eyes slowly closed. "I'll be the happiest person in the whole u... uni... uni... erm..." His face scrunched up while thinking of the exact word for it.

"Universe," his mother supplied helpfully with a grin.

"Yes, that!" Both of them laughed and then Naruto shut his eyes again.

"Now, now... let's go eat dinner first before you fall asleep, little one."

The blonde child jumped out of his mother's arms and landed on the floor. "Hai!"

He glanced back one last time at the night sky where the Moon presently reigned. The large orb was now out in the open with no clouds to hinder it from shining in its full-phased glory. Naruto really wished for a loyal, reliable and cool friend like Mr. Moon.

_That would be o-sum._ He couldn't help but grin widely.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

_A year later…_

"Do you have your jacket with you?"

"It's here!" A little voice chirped energetically in reply.

"A bottle of water?"

"Check!"

"Snacks?"

"Mhm!"

"How about-"

"Kushina," the older blonde cut his wife off. "We're not going on a quest to travel every corner of the world." Minato chuckled at this and then patted his son's head lovingly. "We're just going out for a walk. Yes, a walk; a stroll, the act of traveling by foot."

The redhead pouted and withdrew her hands from putting more things in the rather large bag.

"But what if Naru-chan catches a cold? It's a bit freezing now out there, you know." Kushina placed her hands on her hips, a scolding glare on her face.

Minato grinned then retorted, "It's only the last week of September. I highly doubt our toes would be turned to ice already at this time of the year."

"Still!" The stubborn woman crossed her arms defiantly. "We have to be prepared."

Naruto blinked up at his parents with a curious gaze. His little finger was at his chin while his mouth was slightly open. He was at the middle of the two and he had to turn his head whenever his mom or his dad would speak. He was getting confused by them but it was fun to see them arguing over small things. The blonde kid giggled and continued to stare.

"It's okay, dear. Our son is a strong ninja. He can take care of his self, no cold or sickness can get to him. Right, Naruto?" Minato crouched down and laid his hand on his little replica's head.

Naruto couldn't help but raise his little fist in the air and shout enthusiastically, "Yeah! That's right! I'm gonna be the best ninja Konoha has ever seen!" He glanced at his father for a second. "…Well, after Daddy of course." And then he jumped up and down excitedly.

Kushina swore she could see sparkles shining in her son's sapphire depths at that moment, as if his father had been everything he always wanted to be. His little hands were clutched tightly in front of his chest. Both she and her husband laughed at how Naruto looked like.

"Alright, alright. You're a big boy now."

"Mhm!" The five-year old stopped jumping then hugged his mother goodbye.

"Take care, Naru-chan. Bye!" She tickled him for a few seconds and then withdrew.

"Bye Mommy!" He flailed his arms wildly, laughing. He stopped to give a salute and then ran ahead of his father to wait outside.

Minato shook his head, slinging the large bag on his back. He was about to follow his son out when he suddenly felt a sharp tug at his ear. He turned his head slowly, careful on not to get his ear chipped off, and faced his sweetly smiling wife.

"Yes, dear?" He asked with the same bright smile. If his wife was plotting something to rid the world of his glorious self, better die with a nice facial expression.

"Make sure he gets home safe, unscathed and in _one_ piece, ne?" The smile never left her face before or after the reminder. _Or threat,_ Minato added in his thoughts.

"Of course." He smiled back reassuringly.

They chuckled and the expressions on both of their faces faded. "Tell him to have fun." She pecked the older blonde on the cheek while he did the same to Kushina.

"Will do."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Naruto had always been the adventurous and curious type of person.

Whenever he saw something unfamiliar to him, he would always investigate on it until he had a conclusion on the said thing. He liked to explore places and play nin- _No! _He quickly disbanded that thought. _I'm already a ninja, no need to pretend as one!_ He grinned to himself, swinging back and forth on the swing in the playground.

His father though, had already fallen asleep on one of the large slides not too long ago, the bag lying forgotten on the ground beside him. Naruto snickered at the man. _If only Mommy could see him right now._ Then an idea struck him. He quickly straightened his little legs and dug it onto the sand to stop the movement of the swing.

He stood up hurriedly and walked over to his father. He waved his small hand several times in front of the older blonde's face to check if he really was asleep. He even snapped his fingers and danced like an idiot in front of him to see if his dad would react. Luckily, he also had the habit to sleep like a log.

Naruto grinned even wider. _Like Daddy, like me._

Taking this chance to escape, he quickly ran out of the playground as best as he could with the sand slowing him down. He looked back one last time at his father and smiled. _I won't be long, Dad. I'll be safe!_ And then off he went.

Naruto wandered happily on the road. Ever since that day his mom told him about the friendship the sun and moon shared, he looked up and searched for the orb he had always paid attention to, aside from the sun which was currently hidden behind thick clouds, of course. After locating his targets he grinned then returned to admiring his surroundings. He passed by different people who seemed to know him as the Namikaze child and so smiled and greeted him with respect.

He was slightly confused of being regarded quite highly so he also bowed his head and smiled politely in response. That was how his parents brought him up; to be polite when necessary. Other than that, his mother had given him permission to be cheeky when called for, which only made his father shake his head.

He was looking around when he spotted a wooden dock below, and perched on the edge was a dark haired boy. The blonde stopped walking and blinked twice. He beamed at the thought of another kid and so he raced down the hill towards the stranger.

He sat down a few feet away from the silent boy who was gazing at the horizon. He let his slightly chubby legs dangle at the edge of the dock just like the dark haired child did. Only, he swung it happily back and forth. Naruto kept stealing curious glances at the other whenever he could. The little raven's face showed no emotion and didn't even acknowledge another young one's presence.

Naruto then felt it was his duty to make the silent boy smile or at least, show an expression. _He must be upset that's why he doesn't like to pay attention to me!_ He lifted his little legs and then stood on all fours, the wood beneath him creaking as he did so. He slowly crawled closer towards the boy, who was now looking at him from the corner of his eyes. When he was only several inches away, he stopped crawling and returned to his original position a while ago, dangling his legs on the edge again and swinging it merrily.

Naruto turned his head towards the raven and realized his focus was back on the horizon in front of them. "Um… hi." he said bashfully, grinning afterwards.

His greeting, though, was met with steady silence.

"I'm Naruto! And you are?" His grin didn't falter.

Once again, there was no response. He could only hear the wind gushing by. The blonde pouted and crossed his arms.

"Snob…" he mumbled under his breath.

After waiting for mere seconds if there would be any change at the other's behavior, Naruto turned around and started finding things that could occupy his time for a while. He spotted some pebbles and immediately gathered them. The action didn't go unnoticed by the other child who had subtly tilted his head to look, though Naruto didn't know since his back was turned. The blonde tried his best to collect more but his small hands couldn't carry a lot. He was already making his way back when he suddenly tripped on a rock. Naruto let out a surprised yelp and fell down, pebbles rolling out of his grasp in the process.

The blonde slowly sat up, mumbling to himself, "Ouch, ouch, ouch…" repeatedly. His left knee had a scratch on it, and was still bleeding at the moment. Naruto didn't cry but the wound stung. He scrunched up his face to force himself not to tear up at the injury. _A ninja doesn't cry because of small things!_ He reminded himself. He prodded it a little. _Ow…_

Sasuke winced after seeing the accident. He had ignored the blonde when he saw he was just gathering stones. But later on, he heard a loud sound from the boy so he quickly turned his head and was met with the poor sight of the blonde. He was debating whether or not to help the other kid. It wasn't in his nature to be helpful, but it wasn't like him either to just leave things like that. He was an Uchiha, and Uchiha's are not meant to be confused on what to do!

Sasuke sighed quietly and made his way to the still sitting blonde on the ground. "Can you get up?"

Naruto looked up, surprised at the raven, finally hearing his voice. "Y-Yes."

The raven nodded. "Let's go there." He pointed at the lakeside then walked towards their destination. Naruto got up and followed after him, wincing when his wound got stretched.

The silent boy motioned for the blonde to sit down when they were both by the shore already. Sasuke scooped up water with his own little hand and slowly poured it over the injury, rubbing ever lightly to remove the dirt without further hurting the other boy. Sasuke glanced up at him and noticed his eyes were closed while he was biting his lower lip. _He looks kinda cu-_ He quickly stopped himself. Bad, Sasuke! An Uchiha musn't think like that!

_But… _This time, it was him stealing glances at the other while he was still cleaning the wound. Naruto was currently nibbling on his lip now, forcing himself not to mewl or protest in pain, but failing miserably. _He _is _cute._

A few more rubs and then Sasuke gently lifted his hand off of the injured knee. Naruto opened one eye to see what was currently happening to wounded spot. There were still some blood oozing out from the wound but it wasn't as many as before. Sasuke rummaged for something in his pocket, when he finally found what he was looking for, he pulled out a white cloth. He folded it neatly and was about to tie it around Naruto's knee when a tan hand shot out to stop him.

"I don't want to make it dirty," the blonde told him.

Sasuke stared for a moment before he glared a little. "I'm the one helping here. I decide what to do."

Naruto's jaw dropped at the reply. But seeing as he couldn't do anything to defy the other since he _was_ being nice after all, he just crossed his arms and pouted. "Meanie…" he muttered, but was still heard by the other boy.

Sasuke smirked a little, continuing to wrap the injured knee with his cloth. After tying the knot not too tightly, he stood up. He was about to leave when he felt a tug at the hem of his shirt. He looked back with an inquiring look.

"Thank you!" Naruto's smile was bright enough to outshine the sun's glow. He stood up properly and pointed to himself. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

The dark haired boy hesitated for a moment. But seeing the smiling blonde in front of him, it might not hurt to reveal his name to a seemingly harmless boy like him. "Sasuke Uchiha." He flinched a little when Naruto gave a shout of joy after finally knowing his name.

"How did you know about what to do with my wound, Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave a pointed look. "Wah! G-Gomen, Sasuke!" Naruto quickly apologized while the raven just shook his head.

"I often train with Aniki and I get scratches a lot too," he begrudgingly admitted. "I watched how Itachi would take care of them for me. Aniki is really cool with his moves and helps me with my training."

Naruto knew that look on the other boy's face. It was adoration for his brother, like how he felt for his father. They looked up to their family, idolizing them as if they were the perfect role models for a chil- _a ninja!_

He started to collect stones into his hands again, this time, being more watchful of the ground and the dangerous things littering it. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the other. If he wanted to have another wound, he can go do it. He didn't care. "Just don't go whining to me about another scratch," he muttered under his breath. He was about to walk back to the dock when he heard another shout, he quickly turned around and rushed to Naruto's side.

"Did you fall again?" There was the hint of worry in his voice and Naruto had to smile appreciatively at that. He shook his head and lifted his hands full of pebbles.

"I was just surprised since I found a lot," he replied.

Sasuke sighed. This kid was hopeless.

He began trudging back towards the wooden dock, Naruto trailing happily behind him. They finally returned to their previous position. Slowly, the blonde put the pebbles down between them. He dusted his hands free of rubble and then grinned at the other who remained quiet once again.

Naruto took a stone in his right hand and raised it a little. When he thought the angle was just right, he threw the small object towards the lake, only to have it sink right after. He gasped and then grabbed another one but the result was the same. He continued throwing the pebbles until he was annoyed already at failing every time. Naruto pouted and crossed his arms, glaring at the pile of stones and then at the lake ahead of them.

"Stupid stones…" He glared harder. "Stupid, _stupid_ lake. Won't even let me play."

He was snapped out of his ramblings when he heard a soft sound from beside him. It grew louder and when he turned to look, Sasuke was laughing. _Laughing._ Even though it was directed at him, Naruto didn't feel any anger for it and his irritation from earlier dissipated fast. He was, in fact, surprised at seeing Sasuke openly laughing now. He didn't know the sounds eliciting from the raven could be so pleasant to hear. His face showed absolute mirth and Naruto couldn't help but stare.

Sasuke had been quite bored, surprisingly, just sitting there. He saw the movement made by the blonde earlier. At first, he thought nothing of what Naruto was doing. But the continuous failed results had been too much to handle. Even more so the pout and the glare that the other had on his face after finally giving up.

"Naruto…?" Sasuke was beginning to feel irked by the continuous staring of his newfound companion.

"You're pretty!" Naruto exclaimed with such innocence in his words it surprised the raven.

"W-What?" Sasuke gulped, willing himself not to blush and then glared. "What are you saying, dobe?" An Uchiha isn't supposed to be embarrassed!

The blonde pouted, his cheeks puffed out as if there were marshmallows inside, and then tilted his head. "Don't call me that! Jerk… I'm just saying that you look pretty. I think you're even prettier than the girls in my class!"

Sasuke shook his head and then smirked. "Well, if you think I'm pretty, I think you're cute." He poked the tip of Naruto's nose repeatedly. This time, it was the blonde who blushed and stuttered.

"E-EH? I-I… Erm… Cute…?" He asked unsurely, not even minding the poking Sasuke was now giving to his cheek.

"Yup. Especially when you pout and glare." He lightly flicked the blonde's forehead.

Naruto shook his head, trying to remove the blush but failed. "Ne, Sasuke… We're friends now, right?"

The raven stared for a moment. "You're a dobe. A cute dobe."

Naruto was about to protest but Sasuke held up a pale hand to stop him. "Of course we are, duh." It was against his Uchiha instincts to add the last word, but he felt like he _should,_ so he did. And his response had made the blonde beam and happier so he didn't mind.

He reached for a stone. And in a few seconds, threw it expertly towards the lake. The blonde was lightly smirking beside him, thinking that the raven would fail as well in the end.

_It's going to sink after- _The pebble bounced on the water's surface.

_Eh? _Another bounce. _It'll sink now after- _Three bounces, four, five.

Naruto shot up from his seat with wide eyes. He looked at Sasuke and then at the stone which had begun to sink after seven bounces. He slowly and shakily pointed his little index finger towards the body of water while his gaze was fixed on the Uchiha. Correction: the smirking Uchiha.

"H-How…?" Was the only thing that Naruto managed to get out of his mouth.

Sasuke laughed softly again and motioned for his new… friend, to sit back down.

"I'll show you."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"I'll come back every day for you!" Naruto announced confidently with a bright smile.

Sasuke was shocked, to say the least. But he couldn't help give a small smile in return. He raised his hands towards the blonde and pinched both of his cheeks playfully.

"I'll be waiting here for you then." The raven said, still not releasing the abused cheeks.

They'd been playing together since the pebble incident, beyond happy for each other's company. Sasuke had taught him the proper way of throwing the object to avoid it sinking right after getting hurled. The blonde listened to him intently as if he was learning one of the many secrets of the Ninja world. After that, they even had several rounds of tag also.

"Mou…" Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "Let go of my cheeks, meanie."

Sasuke smirked. For a child, he was doing splendidly at the action. "Make me." After stating those words, he leaned in and bumped noses with the blonde. Naruto blushed but didn't pull away.

For what seemed like minutes, the raven finally let go and then stood up. He reached out his hand which the younger one took gratefully and then stood up also.

"Naruto!"

Both heads turned to look at the person who called, running in their direction. The older blonde looked stricken with worry and he was slightly panting. He probably went to find his son ever since he had woken up from his peaceful nap.

"Daddy!" He jumped into the arms of his father, laughing together in the process.

It was then that Minato noticed the white cloth tied securely on his beloved son's left knee. He slowly put him down and then he knelt on the ground.

"Naruto, what happened here?" Seriousness was clearly evident on his voice.

The little Namikaze though, only rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "I fell down while gathering pebbles and scratched myself, but!" Naruto gave a stern look and put out his finger to stop his father who was about to say something.

"Sasuke here helped me." He pulled the raven by the hand to stand beside him. Sasuke was a bit embarrassed about the touching but he paid it no mind. He bowed respectfully towards the older blonde. Minato responded with a big, warm smile at them.

"Next time, be careful when playing." He patted both of their heads affectionately while they nodded.

"Let's go home, son. Before your mother could organize and lead a search party for you."

"Mhm!" He looked one last time at his new playmate who only looked back. "Bye Sasuke!" Naruto waved at him happily while his father showed him a grin. "Let's play again tomorrow!" The raven nodded with a small smile.

The father and son walked back towards the clear path, heading home now. Sasuke could still see their backs when his brother suddenly spoke from beside him.

"A new friend, Otouto?" Itachi laid a warm hand on top of his brother's head.

"Aniki!" Sasuke greeted excitedly and then grasped his arm. "His name is Naruto." He paused, and then added, "And I like him."

The older Uchiha raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So I presume you will be coming back here daily to play with him?"

"Yes! I need to make sure he doesn't fall down again, too." Sasuke said as if he was a big guy already.

Itachi couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Let's go now, little brother. Father and Mother have been expecting us since a while ago and I suppose we should hurry home now." He turned around and crouched down low enough for Sasuke to reach his shoulders.

"Okay." Sasuke said in understanding and quickly latched onto his brother. When Itachi secured his sibling on his back, he stood up. He began walking back to the path he came from while he piggybacked Sasuke.

On their way home, Itachi was somehow surprised on how talkative his brother had gotten when it came to telling stories of his day with the blonde. He smiled slightly and responded when Sasuke would complain that he wasn't listening.

* * *

"Why is my dear little brother in a daze?" Itachi's voice, almost in a teasing tone, asked from behind him.

Sasuke was once again on the rooftop of the Namikaze-Uzumaki residence. He felt at peace whenever he could be alone at the high place. He would always go to rooftops or any high spot to think or to simply be in solitude. And Itachi knew this. Thus, he was able to locate him easily in the midst of the comforting silence enveloping them.

"Hn. Thinking." He replied curtly, not even glancing at his sibling who now stood at his side.

"Yes, I know." The older Uchiha replied in the same manner. "I intended to ask about what exactly." He paused briefly to smirk, feigning in. "Or should I say _who_?"

Sasuke growled, finally acknowledging his brother's presence. "Mind your own business, Itachi!"

"Oh? I am merely worried for your sake." He crossed his arms and gazed at the brightly shining orb in the dark sky. "Naruto's memory wouldn't come back on its own without interference and persuasion. The jutsu placed upon him may not be permanent, but it still had dealt quite a price on his memories. Have you not realized this by now?"

The younger raven grunted in reply, looking up at the sky. "Say, Itachi… do you remember that day, when Naruto and I first met each other?"

"Hn." Of course he did. Itachi had already noticed his dear sibling's growing affection for the blonde by then. Whether or not, Sasuke knew. "And?"

"Nothing," Sasuke said quietly. There was this distant look in his eyes that made even his older brother wonder what was running in his mind right now. "I was just looking back at our days together in Konoha."

"You two," Itachi scanned the whole area with his eyes, as if what he was about to say next would be found in his surroundings. "…were inseparable. Always, _always _were together. And not once did I find you both playing and training apart."

Sasuke smiled. And for the first time in years he had been separated from his blonde, he had appreciated someone else's insight on his and Naruto's relationship.

* * *

**AN:** Another cliffie~ lol. I'm sorry if there are errors, I was in a hurry to finish this already xD From here on, it would be flashbacks of the past. For now, there will be 4 or 3 chapters about it. Oh and I'll be replying to your beloved reviews on every other chapter. :)

Naruto: I can't believe I used to fall down a lot when I was younger... *facepalms self*

Sasuke: That's why I'm here dobe- and always will be- to keep you safe. *smiles reassuringly*

Itachi: I _suggest_ you try not to trust every word out from his mouth. He plans to molest you any time soon.  
Naruto: *le gasp!*

Sasuke: *growls* Itachi, you mood-wrecker! *dashes to kill his brother*

Itachi: Ah, ah, ah. *snaps fingers*

Gaara: I thought I told you not to come close to Naruto again… *insert menacing aura here*

Sai: I would gladly chop off your dick- if you have any, that is- to prevent your future plans for Naruto. *cracks knuckles*

Naruto: Uh… Do I even have any say in this…?

*All four looked at him*: _No. *_turns to the reader* We look forward to your review.

**Reviews are most welcomed :D**


	7. Kofuku

OMGosh, thanks for the wonderful reviews. I enjoy writing as much as reading, especially your thoughts about this story. Don't worry, I'll reply to you guys soon! I was supposed to update this 2 weeks ago, it was already finished back then. But the internet suddenly died on me.

_Notice: _I just got back to the Philippines last May 13th. College starts at June :sighs: So yeah, I dunno when I can update next. I'll be bombarded with relatives and unfamiliar faces. I'm kinda panicking since I tend to forget names. I haven't gone back to my homeland for 2 years and I kinda feel like Naruto at the start of Shippuden xD

Ok, ok, I'll shut up now lol.

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Me: Naruto is finally **_**mine!**_** MINE, I tell ya! Mwahahaha!  
Sasuke: *barges inside the room with a chainsaw* Hand over the dobe!  
Me: Never!  
Sasuke: He's **_**MINE! **_**He belongs to- *a script is suddenly handed out to the bastard, then grumbles* -Masashi Kishimoto, the awesome one… *throws the script away* and Sasuke Uchiha!  
Me: Dang, I was so sure I got him.  
Naruto: *struggles* …Someone untie me here!**_  
_

"Talking"_  
'Thinking'_

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 7: Contentment  
**

* * *

"You were very adorable back then, Sasuke." Itachi remarked as he stared at the detectable slow-moving clouds in the dark sky, while the younger male growled in warning. "I wonder what happened to you." He shifted his look to the other, waiting for a wonderful answer.

"Nothing changed," Sasuke huffed. "It's just that, I began to realize how much of an _elite_ asshole you are, you bastard."

"Oh my, thank you for the compliment." Sasuke rolled his eyes at his smirking brother. Really, whatever rude comment he threw at Itachi, the older Uchiha would gladly (and expertly) catch it, fan it in Sasuke's face, use it to his advantage and mock him with it.

"But I do recall Naruto-kun saying the same thing to you little brother, albeit, with more venom." Itachi's words were said smugly. "Who would have thought that both Uchiha siblings are actually proud bastards? I wonder how Mother would react." If Sasuke was someone else, he might have already groaned out loud in frustration and pulled at his hair like he didn't care if he went bald. "How lovely, indeed."

Just as predicted, the younger raven's comment was thrown right back at him. "Hn," was all he could mutter darkly.

They were both quiet after that. Basking in silence was a common thing between them and neither wanted to break it off yet. The tall trees behind the Namikaze-Uzumaki residence lightly swayed with the breeze. The roof they were perched on creaked a little occasionally whenever there were too many movements all at once, seeing as how it was also made of wood. But other than that, everything was quiet, relaxing and at peace.

There were bright lights from various distances from their place, though none could compete with the moon's luminosity in its full phase. Sasuke couldn't remember when exactly he had closed his eyes. But when he remembered something _very_ important, he quickly snapped them open.

"Aniki."

Itachi slightly inclined his head to inform his otouto to continue.

"Have you… My… Where… _Shit_!" Sasuke cursed while the older Uchiha raised an eyebrow with an almost skeptical look at his sputtering and incoherence. Sasuke took in a deep breath and let it out a bit forcefully. No, he did not sigh helplessly, Uchiha's do not do that. _'Except for Mother, that is.'_

"Have you seen my necklace?"

* * *

Uchiha.

One of the widely known and prestigious clans of Konohagakure. They were perfect in more ways than one, than anyone could imagine. Be it the ninja grace and formidability they possess, in and out of battle. Or, simply the air of elegance, power and authority they carry with them as they go. Some say that there may be tendencies that when Uchiha's bat their eyes, men's knees would start shaking, that when they twitch, a building would most likely crumble to pieces. And when they smile... well, it highly depends on what caused it to decide the fate of the nearest helpless creature within the Uchiha's grasp. But those were just rumors. However, outsiders would have a hard time scrutinizing and finding loopholes and weaknesses, for every move they make were highly calculated. Nothing, and absolutely _nothing_ puts them out of their normalcy and cause disorder. As Shikamaru would always say; troublesome, circumstances.

And here Sasuke was, having the time of his life _brooding_ over the fact that he could not think of a proper birthday present for his best friend. His mind, in short, was in absolute chaos.

"Tch." Another tree had been mercilessly burnt down.

He had been trying to think of a possible gift that would match Naruto's personality, and at the same time, make him proud, happy and content about it. Over the past seven years they had known each other, they never forgot the other's birthday and therefore a present was always given- although, a bit reluctantly on Sasuke's part- on the aforementioned day. He didn't know what had happened and gone wrong now. To think that he, Sasuke fucking Uchiha, was having difficulties about his blonde dobe's upcoming birthday next week. Sasuke stiffened. _'Next week,'_ he thought. He didn't have much time and asking help from his family was _so_ not in his book. Sasuke was annoyed.

There goes another tree.

Mother Nature would surely get him for this someday. He just hoped it didn't include getting soaked and shivering due to sudden natural phenomenon occurring. He hated rain even though Naruto said it suited his 'dark, broody and bastardy aura' perfectly. Sasuke snorted.

"Moron. Like his behavior and attitude didn't scream idiocy enough."

He made a few seals, performing them as if it was already a routine. Perhaps it already was, considering the fact that the raven had been there since two days ago. He only went home to eat his meals and of course take a good bath. He opened his mouth to let out his frustration in the form of flames.

"Maa, maa. Don't you think you've roasted enough trees for today?" Sasuke stilled once more in his actions. "Ne, Sasuke-kun?"

The young Uchiha turned around and looked up at the jounin sitting lazily on a tree branch that had yet to become his next target. Sasuke glared at the tree and then turned his heated gaze on the gray-haired man, who barely spared him a glance as he was too busy reading his book of wonder.

"Kakashi, why are you here? Your 'babysitting' skills aren't necessary." Sasuke looked up at the sky to assess the time, using his hand to shield his eyes from the brightness. "Midday has hardly passed." He waited impatiently for an answer from the man, until he heard a sigh not long after.

"You'll exhaust yourself if you use that roasting technique too many times. And besides," Kakashi waved his free hand in the air, indicating their surroundings. "Your parents won't be too happy if the whole forest looked like it got placed in a huge oven."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, mumbling something about hungry perverts and said irritably, "It's called fireball jutsu, get it right."

He looked around the forest that belonged to Uchiha territory and indeed, it almost looked like a ruin. Trees were burnt to a crisp, some became merely ashes and the lucky ones were barely standing on their old aged roots. A quick snap of a book brought Sasuke's attention back to Kakashi who was now on the ground a few steps away from him.

"Your father and mother are looking for you," the older man ticked off on his fingers one by one while Sasuke nodded and started walking towards their home in a slow pace. "Guests are visiting at the moment."

"Itachi kept complaining to me that his object for torment has gone missing." The raven growled but refrained from talking.

Kakashi scratched at his temple, as if recalling an important detail, while he trailed behind the Uchiha. "Ah," he called out in a bored tone. "Naruto-kun was nagging me about your whereabouts. He was actually the one who forced me into fetching you here." The upturned 'U' shape of Kakashi's uncovered eye made Sasuke slightly uncomfortable and _almost_ made him rub at his arms. Never mind that.

Naruto was currently at their house, the excitement he felt inside was becoming uncontrollable. He frowned at that, but his steps had hastened after hearing the last bit of information the jounin had shared. Surely, the feeling was of excitement to engage the blonde in another duel and beat him again. Oddly, their wins and losses were alternate. Sasuke mentally shook his head. His impassive face was perfectly in place, calmness was a natural thing to Uchiha's.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Calmness my ass.

As soon as he caught sight of the blonde, who was moving fast towards him, he was sure all rational thoughts inside his head had either escaped- without his permission, of course- or, died by each other thought's clutches.

A headache would have been more appropriate for this situation.

"Sasuke! What took you so long?" the owner of the cheery voice called and punched him lightly on his upper arm. "Were you busy moping again? Damn, I should have been there to point and laugh at you." Melodic laughter continued to ring in his ears.

Then again, he was sure _this_ was another form of headache. Albeit it included a happy, highly-energetic, irritating and loud dobe he knew so well, he couldn't bring himself to hate this headache presented to him. He would gladly accept Naruto's company even though it meant endless chattering, a trip to the ramen stand more than twice a day and lots of bickering. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. _'I'm getting terribly soft.'_ He glanced back at the blonde, feigning boredom. It seemed he was talking all along while the raven was too immersed in his own mind.

"So, didja miss me?" Naruto wagged his eyebrows, the stupid but charming- Sasuke grunted- grin plastered onto his face.

"I was gonna get you there myself but I figured I should surprise you here with my presence," he stated proudly, pointing to himself with his two thumbs. "Well, were you?"

"Surpised?" The young Uchiha snorted. "Dobe, Kakashi mentioned specifically that it was _you_ who nagged him for my location, and so, resulted to the scarecrow bringing me back."

Naruto's jaw dropped as he stared at the raven who had his arms crossed now. "O-Of course! Who else would be dumb enough to forget that detail?" He laughed sheepishly.

"Obviously you, moron."

"Teme! I bet you're just sore 'cause you lost last night in our sparring."

"Excuse me, but I was there when your sorry ass was beaten by, I don't know, _me._"

"Sasuke, my friend, my comrade, my _teme,_" the Uzumaki said with a shake of his head, his eyes closed. Sasuke, though, felt a shudder at the last thing he was addressed by.

"You desperately need to have your eyes checked by Baa-chan. Your loss was crystal clear when I caused you to fall into the flowing river due to the onslaught of my clones, my cunning skills and awesomeness, of course."

The raven merely smirked at him. "I didn't know your mouth was capable of such big words." _'I wonder what else it could be capable of…' _And Sasuke's eyes had widened a fraction at his own thoughts. _'I was thinking of his nonsense babbling. Right. Stupid dobe.'_

"Stupid dobe," he voiced his thoughts. "Next time you plan to fall off from a cliff, make sure you won't need my 'pale hands unluckily attached to a prick', as you had put it before, for help." Sasuke stated smugly. The blonde had been careless too on that same sparring occasion. Oh, he was never going to let Naruto live it down.

"Bastard! Why don't we just have a replay of _your_ defeat, huh?" The orange-clad ninja clenched his fists and then prepared to attack on close combat.

"You just read my mind, usuratonkachi. I suppose winning _again_ won't be too bad." Sasuke tilted his head to the side in a mocking gesture before getting into a fighting stance as well.

Milliseconds away from punching the lights out of each other, Kushina's stern voice was heard, "Not in the living room again, boys! _We_ don't want a repeat of what happened to the Uchihas' furniture before."

The raven haired woman beside her giggled a little. "Its fine, Kushina, it's not like it didn't happen to your own home before." Mikoto stole a glance at the twelve-year olds growling at each other. "And besides, our baby boy seems so much livelier with Naruto-kun around."

Two other raven heads nodded once at that statement.

"That is true, Aunt Kushina. Whenever Foxy is here, Sasuke would hardly snap at me and my behavior." An elegant sip of his tea, and then Itachi continued, "His attention is solely on Naruto."

Minato chuckled. "I know we've said this a lot before, but I'm sorry for the… loss of your furniture whenever we happened to make an untimely visit. Our son is too energetic for his own good."

The oldest Uchiha waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense, we could care less for the destroyed objects here- except for the prized vase that had been passed down from generation to generation." Fugaku managed to give a small, _small_ smile. "Naruto-kun is as welcome here as my own family. You two," He gestured to the grinning couple sitting across from them at the dining table. "are included naturally."

A loud crash from something that just broke into pieces drew everyone's attention to the source of it; the living room. They quickly went to check on the _nicely_-playing children.

Naruto and Sasuke stilled at their position on the floor. One was hovering over the other, each had tight grips on their opponents.

"He did it!" both of them said in unison quickly.

Naruto's thumb was jabbed upwards against the raven's slightly heaving chest while Sasuke's index finger pointed downwards towards the dobe, prodding his cheek a bit.

An amused chuckle sounded from the doorway and all eyes turned to look at the lazy person standing there, the orange book in his hand.

"I believe your family heirloom had been the most unfortunate this time, Fugaku-san."

Fugaku _might_ have- dear Lord- whined if he was just an ordinary man. But seeing as how he was the head of the Uchiha family and a very influential person, he simply coughed into his fist and headed to his and his wife's room, claiming he needed some 'alone time' to himself.

Poor man.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Ne, ne, Sasuke." Naruto eagerly waved the Uchiha over to his spot. "C'mere! It feels comfortable on this side and there aren't any bugs creeping around."

The blonde was lying down on the grass by the riverside, his hands placed lazily under his head as a cushion. His forehead protector was removed and rested beside him. His orange jacket was zipped open, revealing the black undershirt he claimed as one of his favorites. His knees were slightly bent and his feet were bare, feeling the slightly damp patch of grass he was lying on with his toes.

Sasuke's face was impassive. But as the raven neared the other shinobi, his breath got caught in his throat when he realized that the dobe's eyes were closed. Oh, not only that. What really surprised him was the serene expression Naruto was wearing at that moment. The Uzumaki looked so at peace, vulnerable even. He let his guard down and Sasuke prided himself with the great amount of trust Naruto had put in him, _all_ the damn time_. _Tranquility could prominently be reflected upon the blonde whose eyes still remained shut. The only movement Sasuke saw from him was the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. _'Beautiful, as always.' _He didn't even notice where his thoughts were drifting to.

When the Uchiha was just a foot away from Naruto, he prodded his ribs none-too-gently with his right foot. "_Please_ tell me you are not taking a nap right here, right now. I'd hate to drag your ramen-filled body back home, unless if it's already a corpse. That would truly be remarkable"

A slightly dazed laugh was heard from the male below and Sasuke was more than pleased to hear it, even as a hand reached out to lazily swat at his offending foot.

"Don't be such a bastard. Oh wait," Naruto opened one eye as he grinned up at the raven "you're already one. Salvation is now impossible for you, I guess."

Sasuke glared and was about to retort when he was suddenly yanked down on the grass to lie beside his so-called best friend. He used his elbows to hoist himself and then glared at the blonde mop of head. As if sensing the heated look, Naruto glanced up at him. The foxy grin was back on his face as he quickly pushed Sasuke flat on the ground. A soft gasp was heard at the sudden action.

"I certainly did not ask for _this_ in order to attain salvation," Sasuke commented offhandedly at their new position, trying not to blush. Though, his attempt to hide his flustered state failed as a light pink color dusted his cheeks already even before he realized it.

The blonde head's cushion had upgraded from tan hands, to a pale stomach. Naruto was comfortably using his abdomen for a peaceful slumber.

"Just shut up and sleep," Naruto muttered, nuzzling into the clothed stomach. The movement caused Sasuke's shirt to ride up a bit, exposing a pale strip of skin to the blonde male. Naruto flicked his tummy and then laughed when a growl he felt vibrated, suddenly erupted from his human pillow.

The Uchiha could not believe he lived up to that day to get reprimanded to be quiet by none other than Naruto himself. The loud, noisy and annoying ninja he grew up with.

He just hoped the Namikaze was quiet in his sleep, contrary to how he was when wide awake.

Naruto shifted and Sasuke finally became aware of where his right hand had gone to, and what it was currently doing. Though, he needed to rack his memory for an explanation on when exactly he began to comb his fingers through the blonde locks. The back of Naruto's head was facing him as they lied down like that.

Sasuke sighed (another glitch, perhaps) quietly and just continued with his gentle ministration. He would massage Naruto's head occasionally and the blonde would hum in delight.

"Mhm… feels good, teme."

The mumbled words were barely audible but it didn't escape the raven's ears. He moved a little to get more comfortable, he was surprised to see bright sapphire eyes staring into his own dark ones.

"Don't leave…" he almost pleaded.

Sasuke shook his head in reply. "I won't, I'm just readjusting myself. I don't particularly like cricks, dobe."

Naruto smiled and made a grab for the raven's left hand, hugging it tightly to his chest. He soon returned to his world of slumber within a few minutes of more staring.

Sasuke was surprised once again by the blonde. He hadn't witnessed much of Naruto's 'cuddly side', but he had no regrets. The young Uchiha allowed a smile to grace his own lips while he took in every moment. It was times like this that he'd like to momentarily forget their roles as ninjas… warriors. Contentment flooded him, almost bursting as if it was held inside him for so long. He closed his eyes slowly, right hand redoing its combing process.

'_I guess he doesn't snore all the time.'_

Several thoughts began to enter his mind.

'_His hair is really soft.'_

'_For a dobe, I like the way he smells.' _An intake of breath. _'Vanilla, eh?'_

The right hand roamed the other's face with feather-like touches, as if fearing he would wake him up if he put too much pressure.

'_I could live like this forever.'_

Another deep intake of breath.

'_Stay with me… Naruto.'_

And then Sasuke quickly snapped his eyes open.

If it weren't for the body draped over him- and the fact that he was Sasuke _Uchiha_-, he would have bolted up in his position, ran wildly and screamed for emotional guidance from his mother.

'_This is insane. _I'm_ fucking insane.'_

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Hey, dobe. Listen, I'm only going to say this once so you better shut your trap first and let me finish till the end."

It had been two days since he last saw Naruto, two days since they acted a bit too intimate with each other by the river and two days since he discovered _his_ feelings for the aforementioned boy.

Sasuke took a deep breath slowly. He actually felt nervous at the moment. Why, you ask? Simple (complex) as it is, he was going to confess to his loud-mouthed, energetic blonde best friend. He may be an Uchiha, but even Sasuke himself had had trouble coming into terms with his feelings. Before, denial was a constant thing whenever he thought of Naruto in _that_ kind of way.

But his caring- gasp, cough, hack- brother acted as his conscience. He made Sasuke's daily life _and_ attempts at sleep difficult for him as he was always being reminded of 'Just face it like an Uchiha and admit your true feelings this time' or 'You know you like him. Stop contradicting yourself, foolish little brother' or even 'If you don't do it, I'll place you under a genjutsu and make you say cute, sappy and mushy things to him. Your pride had been a glitch to begin with, anyway'

"You see, ever since we've met seven years ago, I can't help but think you've grown special to me. I'd always feel annoyed when you're around. But at the same time, it calms and puts me at ease to know you're by my side." Sasuke didn't avert his eyes but remained his strong gaze fixed to his front.

"You've always made me feel content and happy even just by your presence. There's this…" Sasuke clenched his fists at his sides. "pull you have on me and no matter what, I can't resist." The raven abruptly stopped and raised a hand, a manner to prevent interruptions.

"I'm not a sap. I'm merely explaining to you how I really feel, you moronic piece of a-"

Soft, almost mocking, clapping sounds were heard from behind him. Sasuke had to momentarily tear his eyes away from his look focused in front of him, to glare at the intruder who dared interfere with his sixth round of confession practice for the day.

"Very _good_, little brother. It had never crossed my mind that you would have to make use of a mirror in order to argue with yourself." The smirk on Itachi's handsome face was clearly evident.

He was leaning on the nearby wall on his side, waiting for a reply from the fuming sibling of his, when he continued, "So tell me, who won in the argument?"

Sasuke bristled. He had to mentally give himself a pat on the back for not lunging at his brother right then and there. So instead, he opted to just attack his annoying sibling's eardrums by shouting- in all his Uchiha (and ninja?) grace, of course.

"_Aniki! _How many times do I have to tell you not to enter my room without my permission?" And then in a lowered tone yet still menacing way, he added, "Someday, you will wish you had never been in the same breathing space as me."

The older Uchiha didn't look fazed at all. In fact, he was too busy staring at his painted nails to even pay attention to his otouto. He would need to repaint them soon, some parts had their color scraped off already. He took a composed intake of breath. He flexed his fingers a little and then looked up to meet the eyes of the younger raven.

"As many times as I would catch you talking- pardon," Itachi smirked as he corrected himself while Sasuke glared harder, wishing all the misfortune on his sibling. "_Debating_ with yourself in the mirror."

And with that, the older raven began to walk away to leave his outraged sibling in silence. If he had the opportunity to wear a dark cape at that moment, he would have flicked it evilly, cackling in his wake. He had done his part of annoying Sasuke for the time being, he could come back later for more. Still, it wouldn't hurt to give him a little… push.

Itachi stopped in the hallway without turning around and lightly called to his brother, "Stop procrastinating and confess your undying love for Naruto-kun already, Otouto. The mirror needs a break even from your face, once in a while." He smirked, anticipating and waiting patiently for the angry response he knew was sure to come.

A loud crash and then- "Damn you, _ITACHI! _I'll fucking rip off you barely-existing bal-"

"Sasuke, language!" Mikoto's voice scolded and rang from somewhere in the house, which had immediately silenced the ranting Uchiha.

Itachi couldn't help but chuckle to himself when he continued padding through the hallway.

* * *

"If I remember correctly, you were having quite a hard time back then." Itachi stated with a smirk.

"Shut up." Sasuke huffed. "You know how much I'm not used to saying those things."

"When we arrived here, you gave him a wrong impression about you." A slight pause on the older Uchiha's part. "Pressing a kunai against his neck? Your perverted intent was mistaken for deadly. Quite tactful of you, little brother." The fierce glare sent towards him only brought forth a small smile.

"That day," Sasuke started, a slightly dazed expression on his face. He ignored the rest of Itachi's statement except for the first one. "If he was his former self, it would be his weapon against my throat and not my kunai on his." He frowned, he hated complimenting another, but if it was Naruto… he didn't mind. Not one bit.

Itachi merely raised a dark eyebrow for the sudden statement. He knew both Sasuke and Naruto's capabilities as ninjas since he had witnessed them before. Hell, he'd even been on missions with them- especially Sasuke- at times back in Konoha. He couldn't say if they were on par with (or even stronger than) him. But, they're getting there.

* * *

**AN: **Don't you just love Itachi lol. Had Sasuke become OOC here…? I just needed him to, you know, crack at the flashback xD

Guys, I can't reply to your reviews yet. I'm busy as I've mentioned at the note aboooooove there. Lol. Oh, and if there are typos and errors, I'm sorry. I rushed it a bit. :sweats:

Anyway, please don't hesitate to leave a review. I'd like to know what I lack at writing, some mistakes you'd want to point out, questions that had been bugging you. You can also share what you've thought or liked about the chapters. I won't mind lol and I'll be reading and responding to them.

Once again, I'm really, REALLY thankful for all your support. Knowing that readers like this fic makes me keep writing more.

I'll get back to you guys ASAP!  
Ja!


	8. Kubikazari

About time I updated, huh?

Please take a short moment to read this note!

First and foremost, I would like to say that **I am not taking down my fics. I am back from my hiatus. **College took its toll on me and my free time. I know most of you are planning to tie me to a chair and force me to watch _Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing On Rainbows_ repeatedly for a whole week... for my sudden disappearance without a word. I don't really have a muse to keep my sanity- er, inspiration and motivation.

**I'm sorry **for vanishing into thin air. I'm an Accounting student and maaaaan, I've never had such a deep bond as much as I'm having with my calculator and Accounting books.

**My sudden comeback? **I've seen how people still put my stories on alert/faves even without my updates these past 1-2 years. I couldn't help but smile at that. And I've re-read _all _the reviews and wow, no matter how few they are, it just drove me to write again. So yeah, here I am. Updating. I've read lots of stories wherein authors stated that their readers, reviewers, served as one of their motivations to write. I only _really_ understood this now xD

So yeah, a **BIG, BIG THANK YOU **to all my wonderful readers.

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Me: Naruto is finally **_**mine!**_** MINE, I tell ya! Mwahahaha!  
Sasuke: *barges inside the room with a chainsaw* Hand over the dobe!  
Me: Never!  
Sasuke: He's **_**MINE! **_**He belongs to- *a script is suddenly handed out to the bastard, then grumbles* -Masashi Kishimoto, the awesome one… *throws the script away* and Sasuke Uchiha!  
Me: Dang, I was so sure I got him.  
Naruto: *struggles* …Someone untie me here!**

_'Thinking'  
_"Talking"

EDIT: This chapter is a flashback, once again ;)

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 8: Necklace**

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me…" Sasuke whispered to himself disbelievingly.

Scattered fragments of what used to be a magnificent sculpture rested on the tiled floor. The shards took on different sizes and shapes, and had made the particular spot littered with it. Some of the pieces gleamed in the sunlight since a part of it was made of glass. It only seemed to anger the Uchiha more, as if it was mocking him in its destroyed state.

The raven gritted his teeth in annoyance, clenching and unclenching his fists in the process while he glared hard at the perpetrator of the crime. Sitting by the corner of his room, Gamatatsu merely continued to eat sweets while looking unfazed by the menacing aura Sasuke was literally oozing.

"What is a summons doing here again?" The angered male asked bluntly. Oh, he was going to eat roasted amphibian tonight if he didn't get a reasonable answer. He might even share some portions with Itachi if he's feeling generous. He glanced over the broken pieces of his supposedly birthday present for Naruto.

"Aside from destroying other people's property."

The yellow toad visibly swallowed first before attempting to speak. It took a few more minutes before he could settle himself after hopping in front of Sasuke.

"I was just sent here by Naruto-" The Uchiha sighed, any sentence with 'Naruto' included in it is a bad omen. "-to tell you not to be late for his celebration later." Gamatatsu paused for a while to let out a loud burp which made Sasuke's face curl up in disgust.

"Sorry about that… Anyway! He would've come here to tell you that himself and fetch you too for an early party with your friends. But Minato-sama asked Kakashi to hold him back since guests will arrive and look for him."

More burping sounds were heard which almost drove Sasuke into kicking the summons back to its world. "Kakashi used his dogs to guard the room Naruto was locked in and Yamato-san placed three layers of his wooden dome around it."

By this time, the raven couldn't help but smirk at the blonde's predicament. So much for _fun _birthdays. However, the smug expression on his face dropped after remembering the shattered pieces of the sculpture caused by this annoying creature sent by another annoying creature.

"Is that all?" Sasuke reached out for the nearest object he could grasp in his rage.

"You barged in here without permission, broke my gift- which I bought custom-made and took five days to make- for the idiot, made me hear your disgusting sounds…"

His hold tightened fiercely. "Just so you could report to me about Naruto's current situation and tell me to come later?" The male's sharingan activated and swirled for a moment before it stayed put and scared the toad half to death.

"I would've still come even without anyone telling me to!" He yelled in frustration without even realizing the depth of his words.

Gamatatsu gulped nervously, he had backed up into the wall during the whole Uchiha rant. "T-There's still-"

"More?" Disbelief could clearly be heard in the tone used.

"Y-Yeah! Truth is… Naruto kinda… he, erm… uh, how do I say this…"

"Just get on with it, toad!" Sasuke snapped, his glare never fading away.

"Naruto escaped and we need your help to look for him!" Gamatatsu said hurriedly in one breath.

"_WHAT!?"_

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"You could have specifically informed me ahead of time just how _many_ were guarding you at that moment," a stern voice reprimanded lightly while the male sidestepped an unconscious ninja lying on the floor.

A laugh was heard as its owner leapt over another body, missing the hand by an inch when the blonde landed. "But I didn't." The grin Naruto was sporting didn't even waver even as the long-haired teen beside him glared.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Look, I didn't know Dad assigned several more jounin to do some babysitting, except for Kakashi-sensei's dearest puppies and Yamato-san's overkill technique."

"Honest!" He added as an afterthought, but the the quiet brunette beside him only seemed to glare harder. "Don't kill me please! I'll give you soba noodles later." Naruto put up his hands in mock-surrender. "It's my birthday. At least be nicer to me today, Neji."

After a few seconds of contemplation, the Hyuuga decided his so-called friend did have a point. He let out a huge intake of breath- he refused to acknowledge it as sighing- before answering, "I certainly hope your mother wouldn't get me for this. Of all the people you had to ask for help from, I became one of your unlucky saviors."

Naruto laughed outright. "Well, you could take down several men with one move. I guess the faster, the better." He shrugged. And after a sudden thought appeared in his mind, he stopped walking.

"You didn't kill those guys, did you?" The Namikaze jabbed a thumb behind them, towards the direction of their home.

Neji slowly raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a savage, Naruto. I merely put them into an unconscious state. Though, you better ask your other friend on how he had handled them."

As if on cue, grains of sand began to dribble on the ground the two ninjas trod on. Naruto looked up, grinned and waved while Neji remained looking ahead of them. They didn't bother slowing their pace since the last male caught up with them pretty easily.

"So Gaara, did you have fun?" the energetic ninja asked in a cheerful tone.

The aforementioned redhead had landed on the ground to walk on the other side of Naruto, after using his sand as a platform in midair. He glanced at Neji first and then put his full attention on the blonde. "I did, but it didn't sate my need for some… action since someone had _kindly_ interrupted me in my entertainment."

"You were using Sand Coffin on them and were about to kill them off, which, Naruto specifically asked us _not_ to," the brunette replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Gaara snorted. "Naruto, I wasn't planning to do any killing of the sort. This boy beside you, however, had intended to strike at several vital parts of your fellow Konoha nins' bodies if it weren't for my warnings."

Neji nearly sputtered incredulously. "I certainly did not!" He violently crushed the urge to flick his hair over his shoulder in a show of pride… or haughtiness. "I'm not the one who is bloodthirsty here."

The three had stopped walking abruptly. Naruto, being in the middle literally of this uh… friendly conversation, looked to the teens on either side of him.

"Guys, are you seriously _tattling_ to me?" Amusement could clearly be detected as the blonde spoke. After all, his serious face was slipping and quickly being replaced by a huge grin.

Gaara and Neji broke their glaring match and looked away stoically almost at the same time. One huffed in annoyance while the other crossed his arms irritably. Naruto chuckled and then ran ahead of the two before turning around to face them both.

"Hey, hey, hey! It's my birthday. Fights are temporarily banned today, okay?" the Uzumaki wagged his finger in his mock-scolding voice.

Neji and Gaara both wouldn't admit it, but they felt like children being reprimanded after performing a jutsu wrong. They shared a look and seemed to communicate with each other in all their stoic, silent, passive glory. After several seconds, they had finally come to a conclusion, much to Naruto's disbelief and frustration at how they could have possibly come into terms without using any words. They nodded their heads once and then waited for Naruto to start moving again.

"If that's what you call communication, I might have damaged my brain from receiving too much blows on the head from Mom or…" He shook his head sadly. "I must be seriously going deaf."

Once again, the Hyuuga and the Sabaku stared in an almost bored look, but Naruto knew better. He grabbed their hands and pulled them forward, laughing a lot in the process.

"We still got time before the official party starts. Let's go call the others and have our own fun for now!" he announced in his 'I won't take no for an answer' tone.

Both didn't look surprised anymore since they were expecting something like this to eventually occur when they had agreed to help Naruto. They didn't speak but nodded their heads in affirmative.

"By the way, where's Gamakichi?"

"Crushed by my sand." The redhead answered in an eerily calm voice. His face was devoid of emotion.

"Wah…?"

"Intestines were removed." The male on the blonde's other side merely adjusted his forehead protector while he spoke in the same manner.

"You have got to be shi-"

"Hyuuga ate him."

"I don't even…"

"He already returned to his world."

"Ohhh, okay."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"I have an idea where he could be heading now," Sasuke said calculatingly while his eyes drifted over to the broken pieces of his gift.

The present was a 12-inch intricately designed sculpture of a smiling Naruto holding a bowl of ramen in his hands. Money wasn't an issue in paying for the _slightly_ expensive object, but production time certainly was. It nearly took a week for it to be made, and Naruto's birthday was today. He even had it painted to make it look realistic. He calmed himself down and hoped that he'd be able to find a good, or a better, replacement in time. He couldn't help but feel what a huge waste the smashed sculpture was.

He glared one last time at Gamatatsu- "You may leave now," -before heading out of his room, not caring if the summons obeyed or followed him instead.

The youngest Uchiha walked coolly down the hallway, but anyone with a keen eye could tell that he was still pissed. And to add more to his annoyed state, he stumbled upon a very nice fellow; one that he dreaded seeing, knowing that the person would make his mood worse.

"Hello, little brother. What's the rush for?" Itachi asked in a nonchalant tone.

Sasuke stared hard and said in what seemed to be a barely controlled way, "Move_._" The staring evolved into the narrowing of eyes when no action was done.

"Surely you are not thinking you'd be able to make me move with the use of merely your eyes…?"

"Step aside Itachi, I have no time for you."

"You always say that, Sasuke. Am I not important to you at all?" He feigned hurt and even had the _audacity_ to place his hand on his chest.

Sasuke growled. "For the last time, _move_!"

The long-haired teen blinked once, still in his passive state. He smiled slightly- and suspiciously for the young raven's taste. Itachi stepped aside and gestured a hand at him to continue walking. Sasuke hadn't gotten that far yet when he suddenly heard his brother's very, very amused voice.

"I dearly hope you are not planning to bring that thing you are holding right now with you, little brother." Sasuke could've sworn he heard a dark chuckle. "Naruto would either laugh at your foolishness or faint from embarrassment."

He glanced down and bristled after seeing what he was clutching. Sasuke still hadn't let go of the object he had grabbed onto in the midst of his glorious Uchiha ranting at Gamatatsu. He didn't know if he would be mortified, or be beyond pissed. He chose the latter though, since it was already a common trait for him especially when around Itachi sometimes.

Sasuke cursed silently to his self and walked back angrily- not stomped, mind you- to his room to leave the offending piece of cloth inside.

Upon opening the door, he hastily returned his underwear to its _rightful_ place in his drawer. He resisted the urge to facepalm himself and had seriously hoped no one else saw the unlucky incident except for his nosey sibling, and perhaps, the toad- if it still managed to remember the occurrence in its state of shock or fear.

Putting the incident aside, he refocused once more on the matter at hand. After making sure again that he had more than enough money in his pocket, he exited his room and then their house. He'd need to find the next best thing for a gift for his best friend. Sasuke wasted no time in heading back to the village, since the Uchiha compound was still a bit too far from it.

He looked up and estimated the time of the day. After concluding it was a little past noon, the raven cursed again. The party would be starting in two hours or so.

"Damn gifts and their values."

He lifted his two hands for a seal.

"Damn toads and their carelessness."

He made a perpendicular-looking hand seal with his index and middle fingers.

"Damn dobes and their sentimentality."

Lots of poofing sounds were heard as several shadow clones of Sasuke appeared. They assembled around the original one and waited for instructions.

"Hn."

They all nodded their heads and then dashed off without further ado.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Wonder what that idiot is doing right now," Kiba mumbled a bit too loudly for the others to hear. Everyone seemed to ignore him though, as if he repeated the same question- which, he probably did- in the span of time the teens were together in the Hyuuga compound. They were currently waiting in the living room while a few of them were preparing snacks in the kitchen.

The Inuzuka sighed and grunted, driving one of his teammates to take pity on him already.

"N-Naruto-kun must have had problems escaping, Kiba-kun. Neji-nii-san said he saw more than... a dozen of jounin around the Namikaze residence b-before he went there to help." Hinata Hyuuga glanced around and bit her lip, replying reassuringly, "He'll be here soon..."

"Yeah well, I'm bored to death here and no one's making things any better." He accused with a mock-glare. "You guys are no fun." A kunai abruptly darted on the spot right beside his foot. It took Kiba a few moments to look down and comprehend what just happened. He looked back up and shrieked.

"Sh-shit!" He pointed at Tenten who was standing behind the couch across from him and his teammates. "You almost got me, you damn girl! What if I suddenly lost my foot? A ninja can't attack or defend properly without it, and oh gosh… what if that kunai caused an infection in me? I might not lose only my foot, but up till my thigh!"

The aforementioned kunoichi groaned and covered her ears. "It was _supposed_ to shut you up, do you _not_ get the whole idea of that action?"

The Inuzuka merely snorted and crossed his arms. "Well it's not working."

"We can see that, Kiba." Shino supplied from beside Hinata. "Although, it would've been better if we followed through our plan regarding you a while ago..."

Chouji nodded while his hand dug into his bag of chips. "Knock him out unconscious until Naruto gets here. Definitely should've done that before."

"Make that until Naruto's official party ends," Shikamaru butted in helpfully with a yawn. "Hopefully, Yamato-san could make another dome for him."

The brunette's jaw dropped as he stared at his so-called _friends._ They were all conspiring against him as if he wasn't even _there_, and to think that he valued them next to Akamaru! He heard a light giggling and he turned his head towards the sound. Hinata stopped almost immediately when the gaze was focused on her. She coughed once into her hands and then continued playing with the hem of her clothing.

Kiba huffed. "Fine, fine. I'll be quiet from now on." He glared one last time at his grinning friends before looking out the window.

It was during that moment, that the others went inside the living room, all holding different packs, containers and bowls of food. Kankuro, Temari and Lee went in first as each also held a dish.

"What did we miss?" Sakura inquired, she and Ino were the last to enter the room. The pink-haired girl was twirling the large spoon around in the pitcher of juice and Ino did the same to the one she was holding, although not as fast and brutal as Sakura.

Everyone who was originally present at the living room pointed a finger at the Inuzuka, while Shikamaru lazily- and reluctantly- inclined his head towards him.

"He finally made the _right_ decision to be quiet." Kiba grunted rather loudly here as Tenten spoke, "even if it's just for the mean time."

"Yosh! Here you go, Kiba-kun!" The green-clad ninja held out a bowl of food enthusiastically to him.

"Uh yeah…" The brunette slowly raised an eyebrow at Lee. "And this is…?"

"To celebrate your capability to become youthfully quiet! Eat as many as you wish, my friend!"

Kiba groaned, bowing his head. He was centimeters away from having food stuck to his face and hair. "Naruto… just where the hell are you?"

Temari nudged him a bit too rashly with her foot to move over, Kiba just glared passionately. He could've sworn _everyone_ was picking on him today, on his close friend's birthday even!

"You occupy too much space, Kiba. If it's crammed here on the couch, go take the floor and let a lady sit." Temari was smirking playfully all the while.

"Arghhhh! You pitiful excuse for a wom-!"

"That brat better be coming already, I'll starve to death any minute now," Kankuro complained weakly, clutching and rubbing his stomach from his place on the floor. Lying down was so much easier than fighting over couch territory with his sibling and the dog boy.

"No need to wait for long." Shikamaru glanced outside where he could see three figures coming closer. "In fact, he's on his way here now."

* * *

**AN: **There you have it. _After_ next chap would be the present time again. I will be updating again in 1-2 days.

**Also, please take your time to leave a review; **comment on the chapter so I'd know what I've been lacking here or if I had improved since my _untimely_ disappearance. I hope its not asking for too much, but it really helps! Just see how I returned after a loooooong while. :smiles:

I replied to the recent reviews via PM, but some- the ones below this message- I can't. Since you're either a Guest or you disabled the PM option.

**REVIEW REPLIES (finally!) :**

**JustR: **Oh my, thank you~ Lots and lots of cookies for youuuu. It's not often I get praises for my writing skills xD The plot huh? I'm not sure about that myself. We'll just have to find out~ :grins: SasuNaru is also my (most) fave pairing, I enjoy tormenting our favorite Uchiha so I make him jealous lol. Anyway, thanks again. I hope you continue to support In Between xD

**AuphePuck girl: **LOLOL! More molesting? Of course, why not xD There's more to come, I assure you. Ah, I thought my readers didn't like a daring, pervy Sasuke at first. Anyway, I doubt it would be easy for Sasuke to get his way with our Naru-chan, ne? Konoha's no.1 hyperactive ninja would surely surprise him every time with his stubbornness.

**Guest (**2011-05-04. chapter 6**): **AWWW, amazing you say? Thanks xD Now that you've mentioned it, your favorite conversation was hilarious lol. Sometimes, I'm not even sure how my readers would react to what I write x_x I'm not fond of character deaths either so I've made a semiAu setting like this one. Thank you very much for the support~ I'll try my best not to disappoint in the next chapters also :)

**ahhhh stormy: **I see, I see. Don't worry, the flashbacks are only 2-3 chapters for now lol. A reader suggested for it and I thought, "I should give it a try." I like the present more too, but widdle flashbacks are okay, yeah? xD Thankie for the support~

**Guest (**2011-07-13. chapter 7**): **Thank youuuu~ I'm glad it amuses people and even makes them go "Omg" lol. A reader of a few words xD Still, I value every review I get that's why I appreciate yours a lot too :)

_I reread all the reviews again and everything made me smile and laugh. I hope I get to read more soon from you guys. _


	9. Tanjoubi Omedetou!

As promised, another quick update (and a longer one at that), to make up for my absence!

I know, I know... it's not enough but hey, I'm currently revising another story of mine. The D. Gray-Man one, _"Loving You Both"._ Like I mentioned in my profile, I am _not_ really fond of my writing style back then :cries: According to my best friend, **Verteufelt**_, _my style has changed drastically from when she last read my fics- prolly back in 2009-'10. She was like... "_DoubTrust?_ Is this her...? I know it should be her but... I feel like it's someone else..." So, she was surprised. I asked her about the change in my style, and she said it got better. :smiles, wipes tears away:

There's only a 1 percent chance of her reading this message- since she left the FFN realm already- but I would like to dedicate this chapter (and perhaps the following more) to **ritachi**, for giving me a _lot_ of helpful advices about writing. _"Writing is a lifelong study. What you like now, you may not like tomorrow,"_ was one of her words of wisdom for me. She did wonders for my current writing, giving examples and such. Ritachi, I give you my utmost and sincerest gratitude!

Anywhooooo~ Dramatic moments aside... I would like to **thank you all again** for supporting me and my story! I've replied to your reviews, well, the ones I could _(stop disabling the PM option D: I can't have a chat with you!)._ There's a flashback within a flashback in this chapter, trololol. Oh and to clear things up: Sasuke and Naruto are both 13 year olds in the flashback, and then 16 in the present . Next chapter, we'll be back to the present time again. Yay! COME ON. RAISE YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR WITH ME NOW! HUZZAH!

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Me: When, oh when, will I ever be able to claim Naruto (the anime, and the others) as mine?  
Sasuke: When Masashi Kishimoto and _I_ get tired of him (and all this)…  
Me: Really? YA-  
Sasuke: -which, by the way, will never, ever, _ever_ happen *smirks*  
Me: …Dammit…**

"Talking"  
_'Thinking'  
Flashback_

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 9: Happy Birthday!**

* * *

"You occupy too much space, Kiba. If it's crammed here on the couch, go take the floor and let a lady sit." Temari was smirking playfully all the while.

"Arghhhh! You pitiful excuse for a wom-!"

"That brat better be coming already, I'll starve to death any minute now," Kankuro complained weakly, clutching and rubbing his stomach from his place on the floor. Lying down was so much easier than fighting over couch territory with his sibling and the dog boy.

"No need to wait for long." Shikamaru glanced outside where he could see three figures coming closer. "In fact, he's on his way here now."

"I'll go welcome the birthday boy," Sakura declared with a bright smile, handing the large pitcher of juice to Tenten, who was the closest to her. Everyone had momentarily quieted down after seeing their blonde friend come into view from afar. The two companions with him, however, didn't look too thrilled going through his plan earlier. Both of their faces held nothing but visible scowls, as if they were prepared for another round of ass-kicking. Nonetheless, no complaints were heard coming from them when Naruto sent Gamakichi to ask for help.

Temari didn't particularly care as she broke the silent atmosphere unknowingly casted upon them inside the living room. She had finally dethroned Kiba from his place on the couch. He fell none too gently on the floor with a cry of defeat.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Sasuke was in deep shit.

Deep, _deep _shit, indeed.

Why or, how the hell did this even happen? Well, it's been past half an hour already since he sent out clones of himself to look for a better birthday present. He didn't want to consider it as a 'substitute' since the now-broken sculpture still had value in it. Going to the shop to check on the ongoing work daily was one thing. Having Itachi pester you for the duration of the week until the custom-made gift was finished is another. And looking at it clearly reminded him of his blonde's smiling face. Wait... _his_ blonde? Beads of sweat accompanied his loudly throbbing heart at that single moment. Since when did he...

Sasuke shook his head. Now was not the proper time to be thinking of his feelings. Gift hunting was his top priority for now, confessing can wait for a bit more. Even though he couldn't see any more chance of sorting out his feelings and thoughts, he needed to prioritize this first.

Walking around a bit more, Sasuke was so tempted to sneak out of Konoha and continue his search in the nearest town or village. Again, he shook his head. 'Mother will be worried and then have Aniki hunt me down. Or worse...' He gulped silently, another bead of sweat forming on his temples. 'Itachi would use my confession practice as blackmail material.'

"Damn you, Aniki! You planned all this!"

The young Uchiha halted in his tracks just beside a tree. He glared at the earth beneath him and shifted his heated gaze at the trunk he was leaning his hand on. He was contemplating whether to burn it down like what he did to most of the tree population in his family's land. Calming his self down, he dispelled his clones. Receiving all the information he gathered, he was on the hunt again in an instant after a certain shop had caught his attention through one of his clone's memories.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Itachi sneezed.

He covered his mouth in time out of reflex and courtesy to the people around him.

"Did you catch a cold?" an older blonde momentarily paused in his work of lifting and moving tables around. Yamato's wood jutsu really was helpful to provide articles of furniture inside as well.

A muffled cough was heard adjacent to Minato. "A child of mine is actually capable of getting sick? Please." The older Uchiha in the area merely smirked, lighting some torches around with his jutsu.

Fugaku's eldest son shook his head in negative. "Perhaps someone is talking about me." _'Or cursing at me, in Otouto's situation.'_ What could possibly be happening to him now? He inwardly smirked at the thought while aligning some of the party decorations properly.

The Namikaze chuckled while he flexed his arms for a bit. Minato and the other two were the only ones currently in the huge wooden dome. Yamato had dutifully provided a larger space for the party in an open area just behind the Uchiha and Namikaze residences. Both his and Fugaku's men wanted to help in the preparation. But the two fathers declined, reasoning that they had to do these themselves for Naruto. Tsunade had wanted to invite all of the village people, with how momentous this occasion is. And just when Kushina and Mikoto were going to agree whole-heartedly, Jiraiya, Minato and Fugaku stepped in saying, "I don't think Naruto would want a large crowd during his birthday."

_The blonde Hokage creased her brows. "Nonsense, I bet he'd love all the attention he'd get, isn't that right?" She directed her questioning gaze at the subject's parents. They couldn't help but nod; one in utter glee, the other with no choice._

_"But they should leave just an hour after dusk." Jiraiya loudened his voice a bit over the two gushing mothers' excited sounds. "The ones who will remain are either family or close friends of ours and the birthday brat."_

_Minato agreed with his sensei's suggestion. It would be better to have the rest of the night just to them. The other adults seemed to have no problems with this idea either. Tsunade gave a firm nod and then grinned. "Alright, since it's been settled..." She looked to her surroundings; an open space full of grass in the midst of tall trees. Not a grand venue, but could be improved with a few changes here and there, nonetheless._

_"Shizune! Yamato!"_

_The two ninjas who were called appeared by her side in a flash. "Hai."_

_"Yamato, I want you to make a huge dome on this area that could fit all of Konoha's occupants without suffocating." The aforementioned ex-anbu nodded in understanding and then waited for the hokage's signal to perform his task._

_Tsunade turned to her assistant. "Gather up some jounins with you. I want every person in Konoha informed of Naruto's 13th birthday party here that would start a few hours before sunset. Have Kakashi's summons take charge of the guarding post by the main gat-"_

_The Yellow Flash coughed into fist. "Tsunade-sama, I borrowed Kakashi's dogs to keep watch over Naruto to prevent him from escaping today."_

_Tsunade blinked twice then chuckled. "That won't stop him, I assure you." And everyone else nodded at that. "Anyway..." she performed a few hand seals, bit her thumb then slammed her hand on the grassy land. In an instant, a huge slug towered over them, accompanied by fleeting smoke._

_"Katsuyo, take over the guarding post at the main gates. Just leave clones of yourself with the people here, in case something happens. Naruto's birthday today requires everyone's presence." _

_"Hai, Tsunade-sama." With that, the summons separated little slugs of itself, each of them climbing up to rest on the adults' shoulders. Shizune, having one of her own slugs, nodded once at them and then left in a flash._

_"Speaking of Naruto..." Everyone turned to face Mikoto with a questioning look. "Where is he? Fugaku and I were expecting him here also."_

_Kushina grinned widely. "He got blowpiped by Minato." _

_Different pairs of eyes turned to her husband, making him sigh. "What my wife means to say is that, we put our hyperactive son to sleep to avoid his escape. He usually doesn't return until nightfall, so I did some precautions this time."_

_"I don't think Kakashi's dogs and thrice Yamato's jutsu would be enough," Fugaku stated offhandedly._

_He received a nod from the rest and a reply from the male Namikaze, "I know he's got tricks up his sleeves. I just hope the men we assigned would be able to hold him off longer."_

Minato was about to continue with the workload in front of him when a panting jounin suddenly came to report, "Namikaze-sama, we apologize for our incompetence. Your son has escaped long ago. We were put to an unconscious state and couldn't stop him any longer." The older blonde would've gaped if he hadn't foreseen this coming. "Naruto-san also has accomplices with him; a male Hyuuga and his sand-controlling friend from Suna."

The Yellow Flash couldn't help but give a chuckle at that. "Alright, you guys are dismissed." He raised a hand to stop the oncoming protests. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. We all expected this to happen sooner or later. You may go now." With that, the jounin bowed and then left to inform the other 'guards'. The two Uchihas, having heard the news, walked over to him silently.

"Foxy did a pretty good job huh, uncle Minato," Itachi commented with a slight smirk.

"It took only three brats to take care of our men, Kakashi's summons and Yamato's wood jutsu." Fugaku shook his head. "What are the possibilities if Naruto asked for more backup?" he asked in an amused tone.

"Well, this is Naruto we're talking about. Using Rasengan _does_ get troublesome during certain occasions such as this. That Hyuuga is most probably Neji, and of course, the other one is Gaara."

Minato chuckled again, his white cloak swaying a bit with the slightly cold breeze. He peered up at the bright afternoon sky beyond the center of the dome. Its top was designed to have a hole, large enough for people to gaze at the massive sky full of stars later after dusk. Of course, in case it suddenly rains, Yamato could always close the center's opening. They could now have a party under the stars without worrying about comfort or if it rains abruptly. Looking back to his neighbors, his muscles formed a wide grin.

"I didn't expect it to be this soon, though."

Minato was tempted to use his Flying Thunder God jutsu right then and there, but decided firmly against it. After all, he could just head to where his beloved son was staying at the moment any time he wanted. The older Namikaze was sure the other genins of Konoha were with him, plus the Sand siblings. He didn't mark his teleportation seal on Naruto's clothing without reason.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

The chiming of bells was heard as a young raven entered the shop with a sign 'Customized Accessories'. Sasuke wasn't really obsessed with custom-made products. But the thought of seeing some random person, having the same thing as his present to Naruto, didn't sit well with him. He wanted a unique one to give the dobe. One that would always remind him of Sasuke whenever he used that gift, as sappy as that may sound.

"Come in, come in." He heard a voice call out from somewhere in the shop. From the sound of it, the owner was a middle aged woman. And Sasuke was right when he saw the gentle-looking lady stepped out from one of the rooms. Her hair was tied in a bun, her apron had some colorful blots on them and she was now on her way to accommodate the new customer. "Do look around. Feel free to ask about anything that catches your attention."

Sasuke did just that and browsed through the readily-made accessories that were displayed in the store, hoping to know _what_ he was looking for. After a few minutes he spoke, "Is it possible to get a customized necklace done within a few hours? Three or four hours max?"

The owner didn't reply. She was just looking at Sasuke.

"I'll pay no matter the price. But I really have to get it done today, and soon." The young Uchiha looked calm, but he was anything but that in the inside. His mind would definitely go haywire if the lady refused. He wasted over an hour already, not much time was left until the party.

He continued, "It means a lot to me since it's gonna be for my..."

Sasuke resisted the urge to bite his lower lip or strike his fist on the wall. It would seem too childish. He resorted to glaring once again at the floor. With its intensity, he could probably bore holes on it anytime now. The lady seemed to notice his hesitation but she smiled and walked over to Sasuke, footsteps becoming louder with each step. He directed his look elsewhere when she approached.

"Let's see what we can do."

The young Uchiha waited for what seemed like hours for the highly-anticipated necklace. They found a pattern that was to Sasuke's liking, so the kind lady wouldn't have to start creating from scratch. He watched her calloused hands work on the accessory that he _knew_ would suit Naruto's preference. It may not be as precious as the Senju's crystal necklace passed down from generation to generation until it had now reached the youngest Uzumaki. But Sasuke was sure it wouldn't be a mere necklace adorning his loudmouthed, obnoxious best friend. It would hold their friendship with it- better than his previous gifts in his opinion.

"What a lucky girl to have a thoughtful lover such as you," the owner commented lightly with a cheerful tone while polishing the glass case for the necklace and put it inside. After that, she swiftly and expertly wrapped it with an orange -as her client suggested- gift wrapper. He didn't notice the crafter was already finished with her work. Sasuke couldn't stop the heat from creeping onto his cheeks a little due to her earlier words though.

"It's a he..."

"Pardon?"

The young Uchiha crossed his arms to look less flushed. "My most important person... It's a boy."

He felt like he owed her a bit of information. After all, she did make the necklace in a rush without complaint. And the gift turned out wonderful even with the limited production time. The owner looked surprised, but the gentle look in her eyes never left. The raven dug his hand in his pocket to pay for her service. But upon catching sight of what Sasuke was doing, the lady immediately declined his payment.

"Child, I am sure he would be delighted to receive this from you. Any person that could make an Uchiha worked up like this is definitely worth it. I received the message earlier from Shizune-san about a certain Namikaze's birthday celebration."

She let out a few chuckles as Sasuke resisted the urge to glare out of embarassment. He wasn't going to leave without paying though. So while the owner's back was turned to retrieve the finished gift, he stealthily slipped a good deal of ryo between the displayed accessories near the counter by the wall, as payment. Noticeable enough when one's gaze fixated on it, but not enough to give its position away too easily. After handing him the necklace encased in a rectangular glass item, she gestured for him to go on. " Hurry back now."

"Thank you for your assistance."

He bowed slightly and then Sasuke was already on the move towards the Hyuuga's.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Can someone please pass the takoyaki?"

"Dude, you're using my head as leverage." An annoyed grunt sounded amongst the teens. "You're not exactly as light as a feath-"

"SOMEONE STOLE MY BAG OF CHIPS! MY _CHIPS_! WHO WOULD DO SUCH THING?!"

"Calm down Chouji," Shikamaru lightly scolded in a bored tone, pinky finger circling an ear. "You're crushing them." He gestured to the three unlucky occupants of the room. Naruto got caught in the crossfire, clutching onto Sakura's foot for mercy. She was peacefully seated on the couch, munching on food with the rest. Kankuro was trying his best to push off the load on their backs, although no luck came. Kiba kept banging his fists on the floor, having a hard time to breathe already. The three of them were seated on the floor, so they were easy prey for Chouji's rage when his chips went missing. Akamaru, who was spared by an inch, could only give a low howl in protest.

"I give! I give!" They yelled simultaneously. But Chouji paid it no mind, lifting his self a bit off the ground then laid back down on the poor bodies. Agonizing moans and shouts were heard underneath him.

"We just saved him a while ago," Gaara commented nonchalantly, seemingly perturbed while looking at Naruto but making no move to do anything.

The Hyuuga heir quickly looked around for the aforementioned missing food. When she spotted it at the far end of the couch, she quickly retrieved it and handed it to the Akimichi. "H-Here, Chouji!"

As soon as he saw his chips, he reverted back to his normal self, as if he wasn't causing rampage a few moments ago. "Thanks, Hinata." He finally put his friends out of their misery and stood up, heading over to sit on the opposite couch again. The unlucky trio took a moment to catch their breaths, and then eagerly got off the floor.

"Oh man, you saved us Hinata-chan!" The energetic blonde gave her a brief hug then let go, but it was enough to send her into a serious blushing state. The other teens in the room could've sworn Hinata's mind was going haywire at that moment. Kiba and Kankuro gave out their own thanks to her for giving them another chance to live and continue to experience the wonderful thing called _air_. Everyone settled back down after the fuss, resuming their lively talks and friendly disputes.

The Uzumaki wasn't eating ramen for a change. Instead, he was eyeing something else.

"Hey Dog-breath, can I have a sip?" Naruto asked with a wide grin, pertaining to the drink in Kiba's hand. He was feeling too lazy to get up from the floor and get his own. Besides, it looked tasty and refreshing.

"Sure, idiot." The Inuzuka replied with a grin on his face too.

"Thanks." Without further delay, Naruto snatched the huge glass from his friend and began gulping down the drink loudly in large amounts. Kiba's narrow eyes, narrowed even further when he realized what just happened.

"Dude, what the hell..."

"Man, that was refreshing!" Sapphire eyes fixated on the grilled meat in the Inuzuka's possession. "Oh, and I'll be taking this too."

Naruto's hand darted out to steal the yakiniku Kiba was munching on then quickly moved to stand, finally noticing the menacing aura beside him.

"I'm gonna get you for this, Blondie! You better start hiding!"

The Uzumaki just laughed at his expense, running outside towards the yard without a care. Kiba and Akamaru charged after him while Lee joined in, saying something about being on par with their outright show of youthfulness with friends. The girls who were left inside just sighed and shook their heads. Except for Hinata, she resorted to chuckling to herself.

"Does he even realize he could get another full glass instead?" Neji finally spoke, watching the ongoing show outside.

Shikamaru lazily draped an arm over his eyes as he laid on the floor, the other arm as his makeshift pillow. "Knowing Kiba, he'd prefer getting back at Naruto first before sitting down smugly, food and drink in hand." Most of them nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, we're gonna join their fun over there," Kankuro announced as both he and Temari stood up and started walking towards the yard. It wasn't really quiet to begin with, but Ino took that moment to speak.

"Hey, Forehead." She lightly nudged her friend beside her with an elbow, earning a glare for the name-calling in the process. "Where's Sasuke?"

Gaara slightly turned his head in the yard's direction. "Outside."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Shit! That hurt!" Kiba growled and whined after his back hit the tree. He was crushed (once again) between Naruto and the trunk. Neither of the teens got to dodge Temari's wind jutsu, leading to the Uzumaki slamming hard onto him. Getting back on their feet steadily, Kiba could feel his bones crack into place after giving it a sudden pull. He felt cool air on his skin and looking down, he noticed his gray jacket was torn a bit around the sides. The birthday celebrant merely laughed in excitement, he was obviously anticipating more than just getting blown off like that. Naruto didn't look like he suffered any serious damage if his enthusiasm wasn't proof enough. The blonde was stopped in his fun, however, when he was about to summon his army of clones.

"Naruto! You idiot!"

Sasuke wasn't one to use violence as a form of greeting people like Sakura, but he felt like doing so for once. He always believed it to be pointless when he could just do such actions with more tact, and at a proper time. Today was special though; an exception had to be made. Without thinking twice and a smirk plastered on his face, Sasuke did a flying kick towards his unsuspecting blonde teammate. The fool went toppling on the hard ground, ass in the air as he landed on his front.

It took a bit longer for Naruto to register in his head what had just transpired. He slowly curled his fingers, getting some dirt to latch onto his tanned skin in the process. He spat out a bit of blood from when his teeth roughly came in contact with the side of his mouth. When the Namikaze recovered from the surprise attack, he bolted right up and yelled fiercely, "Teme! What gives?" He dusted himself and gave his right shoulder a gentle rub for taking the initial damage of his fall. "That's no way to treat the birthday boy!"

"You left without informing me of your whereabouts," the Uchiha replied offhandedly, looking in the direction of the living room.

"I sent Gamatatsu," Naruto defended himself, crossing his arms.

Sasuke took a step closer. "That annoying toad dragged on the conversation." Another step. "I had to figure out for myself about your location." And another. "Not to mention, he broke the..." The Uchiha stopped himself from further discussing things. He was now a foot away from the loudmouthed ninja. Naruto just gave him a questioning look.

"Come with me."

"What?" The Namikaze scratched his head. "Where?"

"Just come." Sasuke was growing impatient with each passing second, but he resisted the urge to snap at his friend.

"Eh, I can't. We're still..." Naruto looked around, his former sparring buddies gone. "Where the heck is everybody?"

Sasuke smirked. Of course, he didn't need to tell Naruto about the way he glared at the others and gestured for them to leave a while ago. He took the opportunity to get his message through, when Naruto was struggling a bit from his toppled position after his surprise kick.

"Possibly getting ready for your party. Now let's go."

Naruto growled a little at his commanding tone but agreed, nonetheless.

"Duckbutt."

Sasuke ignored him- already used to his name-calling antics- and headed outside the Hyuuga compound. The blonde gave his friends a wide grin while waving at them, and then he followed after the Uchiha. Landing not-so gracefully as Sasuke on the ground, Naruto stood next to the other.

The older of the two spoke quite cockily, "Try to keep up with me or I'll leave you behind, dobe." And with that, he dashed off.

Naruto gaped for a few seconds then immediately followed suit. "Teme! I can outrun you easily if I only knew where we're headed! I'd get there way sooner before you."

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up and come."

The roofs they jumped on made creaking noises, having a faster path in mind, they also used the sturdy branches as footholds while passing through a bit of trees. As they travelled a bit longer, Naruto began to recognize his surroundings. The raven seemed to notice the familiarity his best friend was feeling through his expression, so he slowed down a bit. They switched to a walking pace on top of the hill's hardened ground, but still left a trail of dust in their wake- seeing as how they were previously running towards their destination. It was only an hour or so before sunset and to their surprise, no one else was in the area.

Usually they'd see some people walking about; either villagers out for a stroll, coming to or from work, or ninjas who got back from their respective missions. Every time that would happen, the Uchiha and Namikaze children would be greeted enthusiastically by the passersby. But right now, it was just them both, as if the gods up high had set this up for them (or mostly for Sasuke). The Uzumaki's face broke out into a huge grin as they neared their destination; the dock. He didn't seem to notice the minor change- lack of people- in his surroundings, and was now leading the way cheerfully. Naruto let out a boisterous laugh as he ran through the grassy part of the hill, only slowing down when he got to the other end of the dock. Sasuke could tell he was clearly in a mirthful mood. As he reached the edge of the wooden platform by the lake, he plopped himself down. He left his feet dangling, swinging back and forth just like when they were little.

The bastard was taking too long to get there. Naruto wasn't really impatient yet but he still called out without looking, "Hey, teme!" Having no response in return, he chose that time to turn his head and look behind him. "Why are you-"

Sasuke was too close.

The Uchiha smirked in his squatting position; he was on eye level with his friend.

Sasuke was really _way_ too close. They were merely an inch or two apart from each other, but Naruto didn't feel the least bit urge or need to push him away.

"Cat got your tongue, dobe?" the raven drawled out teasingly, almost in a whisper. The other still didn't move an inch or utter a word. It was enough to send slight shivers throughout Naruto's body, considering their close proximity. He was rarely this close to Sasuke. The few times they were, were during spars that included close combat or missions that needed the other to pull him up from a cliff or strong river currents. And those times never really bothered him to the point of making him think the Uchiha looked like a porcelain doll, like now. The blonde snapped out of his seemingly tranced state when he heard a soft sound eliciting from the other male.

Sasuke was laughing at him! The nerve...

Naruto gritted his teeth then growled out, "What?"

The response he got was the Uchiha standing up and taking a seat next to him, his cerulean eyes trailed on his obsidian orbs all the while. When Sasuke had stopped producing those soft, sexy- _'wait, what?'_ Naruto mentally shook his head here- laugh, he just directed his gaze at the Namikaze.

"It's nothing, your face just seemed too naive-looking right now," the older of the two answered, gaze still focused on him.

"The hell does that mean!?"

"Like I said, it's nothing."

They were both silent now, it was neither a tense nor comfortable atmosphere. But no one made a move to change the situation. Sasuke had long since broken his gaze and looked straight ahead instead. His eyes were unwavering and steadfast despite the fear and anxiety of rejection creeping up to him slowly. Rejection from the only person he knew who could break his heart. _'Guess I should just get on with it.'_ He was about to pull out the wrapped gift in his pocket when he got interrupted.

"It's been a while since we last came here," Naruto turned his head towards him, "together."

The raven glanced at him from the corner of his eye, mentally debating with himself whether he should give the necklace now or wait for a bit more. "Missions and training take up most of our time, moron."

The Namikaze huffed, slightly annoyed. "I know that!" He threw his arms up in the air then slowly put them back at his sides. "Sometimes I wish we could go back to being kids-"

"We _are_ kids."

"I meant little children, bastard. Those guys are noisy and carefree." The blonde sighed a bit at this.

Sasuked smirked a little. "What, you're saying you're _neither_?"

His comment was met with a glare as a response. Next thing that came was a pout which lasted for a few minutes.

"I prefer you that way, though."

Naruto heard his words, almost whisper-like, and he couldn't help but grin happily at that. They were back to being silent again but unlike the first time, it had a more pleasing and comfortable sensation to them. A cool breeze went by, kissing their faces and the other uncovered patches of skin. Ripples formed on the surface of the water below them with their sizes increasing by each passing second until it went still again. The blonde remembered something as his attention was focused on the lake before their eyes.

"Be right back."

He hastily got up and headed to the same spot he fell down before; by the stony shore. Sasuke moved his body a bit to get a better view of the dobe behind him.

"Oi, I didn't bring any piece of cloth with me today." Naruto didn't need to turn around to know he was smirking while mocking him. "Don't expect me to tear a part of my clothing just to treat your wounds." Notice the 's'.

"Shut up, teme!" was the audible reply he got.

Unfazed by the Uchiha's taunting, the tanned male continued gathering stones in his hands. After making sure he got enough ammunition already, he stood up to go back to his original position beside Sasuke. A huge grin was threatening to split his face in half when he hurried to the dock again. Neither of the two boys talked as Naruto grabbed a handful of stones in one hand while the other held onto one as ammo. He let the rest of the stones make a huge pile between him and the raven. He lifted his arm and then threw the rock onto the lake; it made two bounces but sunk in right after.

"That wasn't supposed to do that!"

"Let me try." Sasuke was preparing to give it a shot when a tan hand shot out and slapped his pale one away. "What the f-" He instantly retracted his limb and resisted the urge to rub the abused thing.

"No. I'm doing this on my own this time," Naruto declared with another silly grin, unconsciously rubbing the spot under his nose with his index finger. The Uchiha just had to smile a bit at his stubborness.

"Sure, moron."

Many more stones flew in the air towards the lake, but each attempt wasn't really better off than the first. Sasuke now chose that time to take out his present while the dobe was distracted. He laid the gift-wrapped item beside the pile of rock, knowing it'd be noticed easier that way. Just when Naruto tried to get more ammo, his hand felt something else besides the little things he picked up earlier. He looked down and saw the orange rectangular thing. The blonde immediately snatched it up and peered at his friend.

"Woah! Is this for me?" Sasuke had to roll his eyes at that question while Naruto was laughing like a moron again. He tried recklessly tearing off the wrapper in a rush when a sudden thought came to his mind, making his eyes widen. "Wait... you're not proposing to me are you, Sasuke...?"

He couldn't help it. The Uchiha gaped at him and then facepalmed himself for real this time.

"Why the heck would I do _that_?"

The blonde merely shrugged.

Finally revealing the whole glass item with the encased necklace, Naruto shouted in glee. Opposed to his earlier actions, the Namikaze carefully took off the cover and removed the accessory from its cushion case. The pendant was a cerulean transparent orb; its design was like that of the Uzumaki symbol. The swirling line was black, accentuating the seemingly angelic glow emanating from the pendant.

"Flip it."

And the blonde complied.

At the back of the pendant was, _'Naruto'_ carved into the stone pendant. A small sun symbol was outlining his name. He looked up at his best friend, unable to form words. He just gave him a bright smile that sent bolts of warmth throughout the raven's body. He punched Sasuke playfully on the shoulder with the hand that was holding the glass case, but heard a soft clunking sound while he did so. The boys shared a look with each other.

"What was that?" they asked in unison.

Naruto lifted the cushion that was earlier holding his necklace in place to find another accessory underneath. "Sasuke, look!" He raised his hand to put the second necklace on eye-level with them both. As the pendant made a slow twirling motion, both of them saw the slight resemblance it had with Naruto's. This time though, instead of the Uzumaki symbol, was the Uchiha crest. And instead of a cerulean color, it was an obsidian orb with a white lining for the fan at the front. The back also had Sasuke's name on it, with a moon symbol in its background.

The raven knitted his brows in confusion. He didn't ask for another necklace, moreover with his name on it. Sasuke didn't even give his name to the woman, but here it was, written on one of the necklaces with the Uchiha crest. He had to ask the lady about it on another day. The older of the two was snapped out of his musings when he felt a finger flick him between his eyes.

"You'll look older soon if you keep doing that."

Naruto laughed and was about to hand his friend the accessory entitled to him when it suddenly slipped between his fingers and fell into the lake.

"Oh shi-"

"I'll get it." The Uchiha sighed, standing up.

The birthday boy stood up as well, arguing, "But I dropped it, so I'm gonna take it!"

"Dobe, just sit this one out and I'll be back up here quick."

Naruto was having none of that so he lifted his hand- the one holding his own necklace- and placed it before Sasuke's eyes. When the Uchiha had taken a good look at it, the blonde threw it into the lake, at the same spot he saw the other accessory drop into. The pale teen mentally jawdropped at his action.

"What the heck did you do _that _for?"

The blonde merely grinned at his glare. "Now I also have a reason to dive in the water." And with that, he plunged into the lake.

"Tch." And Sasuke followed, feeling a bit content with the reply he got, but still felt annoyed with what the other did. Now they have to search for _both_ necklaces.

A few moments later, two heads came up from the water. Both teens panted, trying to catch their breaths after a rather deep and lengthy dive. Sasuke glared once again at his companion.

"This is your fault, all your freaking fault."

"What!? I volunteered to get it, teme! _You're_ the one who wouldn't let me."

"It would take centuries for you to find it," he muttered to himself. "Does your hand have a hole or something? How can you even drop that thing with its chains wrapped around your fingers?"

"What the- Well excuse me for being the one to discover its existence when _you_ should've known about it first!"

The argument continued for a bit longer while still plunged in the water. Both teens struggled a bit to get up and walk on top of the lake with their chakra-induced feet. Still in a dripping wet state, they went back to their place at the dock. Sasuke turned his head a bit to face the other.

"I'll put it for you." Naruto obliged with a nod. He unzipped his orange jacket and placed the wet garment at the side, then turned around so the raven could put his necklace for him. Sasuke was the one who moved closer. His hands trailed along his friend's shoulders, only stopping when the Uzumaki reached up and handed him the two ends of the chain that was holding the pendant.

The Uchiha took a deep breath and unconsciously let out the warm air on the back of the tan neck in front of him. "Naruto, I like you."

The aforementioned blonde visibly stilled for a moment, facial expression couldn't be seen with their current position. When Sasuke secured the lock on the chain, he inched back to his spot. It took a bit longer for Naruto to fully grasp the situation he was just in. Slowly, he began to face the raven again. But of course, he did the first thing that came to his mind. He punched Sasuke on the face. _Hard. _There was so much force that it almost drove him to fall into the water again if he was anyone else.

"What the fuck, dobe? I'm almost dry now!" He was more worried about falling back in the lake rather than rejection. But that's what the Uchiha would like the other to think.

"Teme! Took you long enough." Naruto crossed his arms and said nothing more which made Sasuke even more confused.

"That's all? Don't tell me you've realized it before. _You, _the Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki_, _realize things beforehand?" he asked the tan male incredulously.

"Sasuke, I may be stupid. But I'm not dumb enough to think your advances were just coincidences." Naruto gave a glare of his own. "Seriously, who the hell would grope me thrice in the span of an hour during our spars? Not only are you a bastard, but you are also a _perverted_ bastard. Don't think I don't notice you whenever you follow me when I go to places I don't mention to our team- the kyuubi chakra has its perks. Also, when you leave me a lot of ramen bowls by my window at home and the times you secretly pay in advance at Ichiraku, so I'd get free meals most of the time."

Sasuke, to say the least, was shocked. He was embarrassed and mortified about getting caught to the point that he let his jaw hang in the open during the whole Naruto rant. Sasuke may not have noticed it, but the blonde's expression had turned soft while he was counting off all the 'secret' acts his raven teammate had accomplished. The Uchiha was still dumbfounded.

"ARGH!" Naruto ruffled his hair wildly. "I was waiting for you to say something all those times! There's this one time when you also-"

He was stopped abruptly when Sasuke had pulled him in by his black shirt, for a kiss on the forehead.

Naruto's eyes widened but didn't pull away from the warm feeling. It wasn't painful to breathe, as much as both of their hearts were throbbing wildly in their chests. The Namikaze replied in the same gentle manner, "Bastard, I found out I like you too just days ago." Pale hands clutched his shoulders and pulled them briefly apart a little.

"Don't think I'll let you off easily for that punch earlier, though." Sasuke slid a hand on top of the mop of hair, combing his fingers through blonde locks. He drew their heads closer until they were forehead-to-forehead. "Happy birthday," were the whispered words. Naruto was instantly enveloped in a warm embrace and he couldn't help but return the favor with a large grin. He happily intertwined his hand with Sasuke's. "Your confession was the best gift." The Uchiha smiled. That foreign warm feeling in his chest was rising up again.

"We should go back, it's almost sunset."

Sasuke felt a nod as a response to his statement.

"You know, my dad placed his teleportation seal on my shirt." Naruto instinctively scratched at his chest, where the same spot of the seal was marked.

"I know, and?"

"He could see us like this any time when he flashes in." Sasuke only tightened his hold on the blonde. _His _blonde.

"Well... you could remove your shirt now and-"

"YOU PERVERT!"

"-throw it somewhere else, since its uncle Minato's only medium of teleporting to your place."

They shared a look once again, and then laughed to their hearts' content, as if nothing else mattered that moment.

* * *

**AN: **Yes, the SasuNaru part just had to come in last. HOPE IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT, having Sasuke confess on his widdle dobe's birthday ;D Not sure if there are errors lurking around again, feel free to point them out. I didn't exactly do a triple check, teehee.

EDIT: Next update will come by slower, since I am doing a revision of another story plus my in real life stuff. Help me attract more readers! Y'know this story deserves more love ;) ALSO, time and time again, I still can't figure out the best reader-attracting summary for this story. Suggestions, please? xD

Dear guests/anonymous readers, please make an account so I can reply properly to your kindness and enthusiasm. Same thing goes to those who disabled PM option for their accounts! WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT WORLD DOMINATION- er, Naruto, anime... yeah, stuff. _Good_ stuff.

If I ever slack out on this one, please do blame **nanacontrol**. We recently got in touch more often (skype buddies and all), and are now playing Ragnarok Online together lolol. Feel free to threaten her when you do the same to me! :evil grin: Just kidding, just kidding. Also, dude... **NarutoRox**... I can't believe you dropped a review for _every_ chapter. Man. I know I gave you cookies already but... here, have some more! UNLIMITED SUPPLY OF COOKIES FOR YOU LOL. :coughs:

Be back to you guys soon!

Ja!


	10. Jikan

I'm trying to make this story as light as I can make it. I don't wanna write something too serious lol. I can't do that kind of atmosphere, at least... not yet. It's just not my cup of tea.

**Thank you for reading, and over 9000 more thank you's to everyone who reviewed. Recently, this story just got more Alerts and Favorites. Thanks for that too! FREE HUGS FOR EVERYONE. YEAH!**

I dedicate this chapter to Mercy, Nana and my bestbud, Debbie :P

_Warning: Colorful words spouting from Naruto. Yes, swearing. Not that much, though. But just to be safe!_

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Me: When, oh when, will I ever be able to claim Naruto (the anime and the songs to be used) as mine?  
Sasuke: When Masashi Kishimoto and**_**I**_**get tired of him (and all this)…  
Me: Really? YA-  
Sasuke: -which, by the way, will never, ever,**_**ever**_**happen *smirks*  
Me: …Dammit…**

"Talking"  
_'Thinking'_

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 10: Time**

* * *

Minato Namikaze had never been nosy.

Well, at least not as much as his beloved Kushina. He mostly left the wonderful job of prying and meddling with their son's own personal affairs in his loving wife's hands. Not that he didn't care at all about the happenings around Naruto, as a father, he was overprotective to the core. Albeit, carrying on his duty through indirect methods most of the time. Heaven _knows_ what lengths and things he'd go through and sacrifice to keep his son safe, to make sure no harm came to his family. But some matters were better to be dealt with through talking with one's mother.

"Do you think it's alright to leave him in the dark?" Kushina calmly asked without looking up, her hands momentarily paused from their dish washing "Especially since he's the center of all... whatever you call this messed up situation."

The older blonde didn't get to reply, as his wife added in a tone that was strongly laced with ire, "That old man doesn't know when to stop. He should just step down from that 'pedestal' of his and leave everything to Tsunade-sama. It gets difficult already when dealing with the Elder Council, Konoha would be better off without the likes of him! I would gladly take this battle to his face with a one-on-one."

The red haired woman ended her statement with a huff at the end, putting a lot of emphasis and anger as she referred to Danzou. Noticing the remaining smaller pile of dishes, she continued her chore as if she didn't start ranting a few moments ago.

Minato didn't need to be told specifically who this man was. He had to stop drinking coffee in fear of spitting it back out and angering the woman even further due to the mess. No one wanted to face Uzumaki Kushina's wrath, be it family or not. The Namikaze blinked twice and chuckled a bit before addressing his wife, "He can't really lay a finger on our Naruto without our _or _the Hokage's consent." Sensing it was safe to take a sip for the moment without spewing it onto the floor, Minato quickly lifted the cup he was holding to his lips and took a drink. Kushina waited patiently while he let the hot liquid flow down his throat before uttering more words.

"He _will_ twist anyone's words and use them against the person to make our son into his puppet. Danzou won't stop at nothing to take control of the Kyuubi and use it as a show of power. He'd eliminate nuisances to him. That, I'm sure."

By then, Kushina had finished washing the plates, not minding the two additional ones to their usual pile. She walked towards the table where her husband was currently enjoying his cup of coffee. After wiping her hands on the apron that adorned her body, she took a seat beside him and made herself comfortable. The red haired woman crossed her arms defiantly as she faced Minato, glare slowly coming into place.

"Minato! As if we would just stand back and watch as our son gets kidnapped by that... that- ARGH!"

The outburst was briefly followed by a vicious stomp of a foot. Kushina could still be very childish when she liked, the male Namikaze grinned lopsidedly at this.

"Fretting about this everyday won't do us all any good, dear." Minato reached up a hand to stroke the flawless skin of his wife with a thumb, gently rubbing small circles on her left cheek in a way to soothe her worries. "Now that the Uchiha family has been involved too, I don't think they would just sit back and do nothing about it. For now, let's just trust Tsunade-sama and the rest of our and Naruto's friends to keep Danzou off our backs. Hopefully, things would have settled back down when we return."

'_Although, I'm not exactly sure about this 'when'.'_

Confidence and hope burned in the man's sapphire eyes, while a hint of worry danced in his wife's pair of cerulean ones. Kushina placed her hand on top of the one still rubbing her cheek tenderly. She felt warmth seep in as she did so, causing her to relax immensely and lean more into the touch.

"As for Naruto," Minato continued, seriousness evident in his voice, "I suppose we can share a bit more information rather than blindly throw hints of his real identity here and there. I'm just worried about how he'll react since he becomes unpredictable at certain times, and I wonder who he got it from..."

He received a playful kick to the shin for that light comment, which, he gladly responded with a laugh and a peck to his wife's other cheek.

"Don't you start with me." Kushina jabbed her index finger to the tip of her husband's nose. "I'm pretty sure he got your attitude as well." She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment before a large grin appeared on her face. "Leave the talking to me when that time comes."

Minato's smile mirrored his wife's when he replied, "Alright, just don't go telling him more than what he needs to know, for now. Call for me if you need me with you."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Gaara idly noted when tan fingers had begun to drum against the table surface a few minutes ago. He was expecting it to stop after a couple of rounds, but to no avail, it went on like an annoying, loud ticking noise from a clock. There was mostly a steady beat, but the rhythm would change once in a while before reverting to the original one.

"Will you quit that?"

Naruto was probably the most tolerable person for him, but his patience was quickly wearing thin as minutes passed by. If those fingers still didn't stop in a matter of seconds, someone's neck will snap in two. Oh, he wouldn't dare break any of his close friend's body part, but he couldn't say the same for the rest of the student population. Another would surely pay for that incessant tapping, most likely the nearest unfortunate soul within his grasp.

"Quit what?" the blonde inquired, clearly oblivious about how much his action was grating on his redheaded friend's nerves.

Gaara slid down from the table top to take a sit across his friend. He could only grit his teeth in the process. A pale arm stretched out over the surface, effectively stopping the other's further motions with his hand. "This," he simply said with a glare and a low growl.

Naruto knitted his brows in confusion and broke free from the redhead's loose grip. "What about it?" Not understanding the effect of his earlier actions, he began to drum his fingers against the flat surface again, widely grinning as he continued to do so. Gaara would have gaped at him if he was any other person- but he wasn't. So he resorted to crossing his arms and glaring in a different direction instead while he tried his best to distract himself from the irritating sound. One of his eyebrows was unconsciously twitching due to self-restraint from strangling the other students in the area, just outside of the cafeteria.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Gaara's saviors _finally_ came in the forms of... more noisy people.

"Man, leave the poor guy alone," sounded the voice of a male Inuzuka who plopped down beside Naruto. He took note of the fact that Kiba appeared too cheerful while scolding him.

"You're taking advantage of my little brother's kindness to you, Naruto," Temari commented with a shake of her head as she stood behind her aforementioned sibling.

"Um, I don't even know what I was doing wrong."

The rest of the gang were sliding in the seats around him, getting comfortable in their positions. The blonde all greeted them with a loud welcome and a few fist bumps. Settling back down in his seat, Naruto sensed a sudden burning pain in his left ear when he felt it getting pinched and twisted. He instantly stopped all body movements and went with the flow after seeing who his offender was.

"You didn't tell us you wouldn't be eating lunch in the cafeteria today," Sakura berated in an almost shout, twisting his ear a bit more. "We waited for nothing!"

"E-Eh? But I sent a text earlier!" He remembered he wasn't a very good liar. At all. Especially when under pressure and scrutiny.

A pair of arms made their owner known as they wrapped around Naruto's torso. He didn't need to look to identify the newcomer. "Now, now Sakura. We all know how Naruto tends to forget about his main purpose in life, the contraption called mobile phone-"

"Hey!"

"-and to inform us in advance that he wanted to change locations," Sai reminded the other with his usual light smile

Sakura hmph'd at them but grinned right after. With a last tug on his ear, she let go of the blonde. Naruto instantly let out a huge intake of breath he'd been holding in, and turned to give one of his infamous grateful looks to Sai.

"Dude... thank you, thank you_, thank you_!" He was on the verge of tears already, what, with the sheer intensity of the pinch. Naruto grinned while he rubbed his abused ear tenderly, trying to make the soreness go away. "Anything you'd want in return?" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively. He wasn't entirely serious about that, though.

"I swear I'll smash your face nonstop against the wall the cops won't even recognize you anymore, if you're thinking of molesting me or worse... if you ask me to share _my_ ramen."

"Even just a noodle?"

"Even just a noodle," he affirmed with a nod.

Sai looked thoughtful- or at least, pretended to be- while both he and Sakura sat down on each side of the blonde. He snapped his fingers and with a straight face he said, "A kiss will do, then." Naruto's grin faltered when the other tried to lean in closer.

Keyword: _tried._

Everything happened so fast afterwards. One minute, Sai was fooling around right beside him, and in the next, he got pulled out of his seat and thrown onto the grassy earth a good distance away. Everyone at their table immediately got quiet at their friend's sudden disappearance. Sasuke did an incredible job of 'terminating' the so-called threat. He dusted off his hands; as if he had touched something vile when he grabbed hold of Sai's uniform to get rid of him. He flashed a smile at Naruto then proceeded to take his _rightful_ position beside him. As if in sync with everyone, Naruto and the rest of his friends- except Gaara, who merely watched- gulped, left their jaws hanging and turned their incredulous looks to Sasuke.

"What?" he asked irritably. As much as he liked the attention and awe coming from Naruto, he was slowly getting annoyed with all the constant staring from the other nameless fools at the surrounding tables. He didn't mind the acknowledgment in the eyes of the dobe's friends, however.

Ino and Lee were the first two who were able to speak more coherently. "You do realize that you've just hurled Sai about several hundred meters away...?" Ino pointed out as her eyes were still unblinking due to shock.

"...Like he was just a ragdoll," Lee piped in. His eyes sparkled in amazement, on the other hand. "Such a splendid way to show your youthful side, Sasuke-kun!"

Some heads nodded in silent agreement and laughter soon followed. Students who were in the same area had witnessed the scene before their eyes. The crowd began to disperse at Sasuke's menacing glare, afraid they'd be the next victim of the human catapult. Who knew where he'd think of propelling them next. Though, he was surprised to see Gaara's smirk when he was done scaring the other students away.

"Someone check if the guy's still alive," Naruto said in a monotonous way, glad that Kankuro took off running immediately. He shook his head free from the daze he was in and then grinned lopsidedly at Sasuke.

"Wow! Do it again!" Sakura had to nudge the Namikaze none too gently by the ribs, with her elbow, for that idea. Sai was still their friend after all, no matter how hilarious and astonishing it was to see him get thrown that far.

"Sure." The Uchiha smirked and gestured his head towards the only redhead in the group. "Want me to try it on him next?

Naruto played along, "Only if I get to watch on the front row seat like this again."

Gaara's smirk had faded by then and he resumed to glaring at Sasuke instead. None of them got to reply when a fuming raven had finally come back, a sniggering Kankuro followed closely behind.

"What was that all about?" Sai snapped when he got near them as he already lost his usual calm demeanor. He regretted not being able to control his landing since he was caught off guard. He would've ended up face first on the ground if he hadn't extended his arms out before his fall. Although, his body _terribly_ hurt,he wasn't about to go to the Infirmary for something like this, especially when Naruto was right there. Sai decided to sit far away as possible from Sasuke this time, but he still continued seething. He was now seated beside Temari, who coughed into her fist to stop the giggle that was threatening to break loose.

The Uchiha faked confusion and uncertainty. "Oh, I'm sorry." His expression instantly hardened when he stood up properly and faced Sai. "I thought I've already made it clear since day one to leave. Naruto. _Alone_. Has it been so long ago already that you forgot?"

Kankuro's face scrunched up at this so he decided to point something out, "...But you told him that only yest-" and was immediately shushed by the females of the group. Apparently, Ino, Sakura and Temari thought this was similar to the soaps they watch at home. Thus, the scene unfolding before them needed full attention and less interruptions- none of that, if possible.

Sai, even with the commotion they had caused and the state he was in just now, didn't feel the need to back down at all. To the people around him, he looked even more charged up. He peered at the Uchiha, stood up as well and haughtily said, "You act as if he was _yours_ to begin with. You don't even know Naruto for as long as I do."

This time, Kiba decided to grace them with a comment, "Well, technically, if Sasuke was his childhood friend then that would mean-" albeit, he was abruptly silenced with a few glares thrown his way by the same girls as before. Sai and Sasuke seemed to have a world of their own, fighting a battle with each other through glares, sneers, arrogance and more glares.

_...tatoeba boku ga kono tabiji de..._

"Okay, okay. I'm shutting up now," the Inuzuka whispered and raised his hands in mock surrender.

Sasuke merely raised an elegant eyebrow at the other raven, whom he refused to acknowledge as his look-alike. Letting a smirk resurface on his handsome features, he started, "As a matter of fact, Naruto and I are actually-" Sasuke stopped himself. He couldn't really let it slip. He couldn't divulge any more information about _that_ topic- not now, at least.

_...Tachisukumu koto ga aru no nara..._

It was Sai's turn to arch an eyebrow, more on due to curiosity at his sudden pause. "What, don't have a comeback for that, Uchiha?" He smiled- annoyingly and distastefully, in Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke was about to retort, but Sakura motioned for them to be quiet all of a sudden. "Listen," she said.

_...Hitsuyou na no wa tashika ni kanjiru..._

"Someone's singing."

"Good job figuring that out. At least now we know you're not totally deaf, Ino."

"Why you, forehead-"

"Shhh!"

The song was familiar, but they couldn't tell who it belonged to. The muffled sounds weren't really soft, and yet its source couldn't be pointed out straight away. Sakura bent down a little and chuckled, she took it upon herself to get the ringing phone from inside Naruto's bag.

_Sono te dakara_

They all stopped searching when Sakura retrieved the device. She looked at the caller ID to see who was calling out of the blue then blinked.

_I need you here right by my-_

"Hello, aunt Kushina?" She looked around and mouthed with a frown, 'Where's Naruto?' to the others.

Sasuke glanced down to his side, where the blonde was supposedly sitting, to see nothing but empty space save for the bag which was now on Sakura's lap. Just then, the whole group finally realized that Gaara was missing too. Sai and Sasuke's hands twitched, wanting nothing but retaliation on the redhead.

"I'm alright, doing great! And you?" The rose haired teen carried on with the friendly conversation. She mouthed impatiently to them, particularly to Sasuke who was still standing several inches away from her, 'Find _him_!'

Lee, Kiba, Ino and Kankuro scrambled to their feet, while the rest of them walked off at a normal pace. They all knew Kushina would go ballistic if she found out Naruto went missing again without anyone noticing. Doing her best with stalling, Sakura talked more with the female Uzumaki until her friends got Naruto back."Oh yes, yes... Naruto? Um... He's in the toilet, mhm..."

'_Dammit, Naruto! At least take your phone with you when you decide to elope or something!'_

"Hey," Kiba stopped in his tracks to look at Sasuke who was a little ways ahead of him. The raven looked over his shoulder to show him he was listening. "we should try calling his phone and see if he picks up."

Sasuke's right eye twitched once. "Yeah, and let that pink banshee scream at us more for taking too long to find Naruto. Don't think so." He was going to resume walking but decided to follow a different path from Kiba's earlier suggestion.

The Inuzuka facepalmed and shook his head slowly. "Shit. I forgot about that." He removed his hand and was surprised to find the raven gone as well.

Sasuke took the opportunity to use the walls and search for the blonde from higher ground. His chakra-induced feet ran fiercely, taking him directly upwards and then running horizontally from there. No sound was heard as he made fluid motions with his body, highly adept at being silent (and deadly- if need be). He couldn't risk people suddenly looking up after hearing his footsteps on the cemented wall. He and Kiba were walking down a narrow pathway earlier, so the chance of others seeing him dash to the wall earlier was unlikely. He made sure of it, anyway. Besides, most of the gang had decided to look inside the school buildings instead.

Now where could his Naruto be roaming around?

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Ne, how long do you think until they find out?" the youngest Namikaze asked without a hint of seriousness in his inquiry.

Gaara didn't really look contemplative before he answered, "I'd say about fifteen minutes more or so, unless something _drastic _suddenly happens."

Naruto snorted at that. "What, like a life or death situation? Naw." He shot forward several steps in front of the redhead and then spun around. "Have you ever been kept out of something big?" When Gaara merely raised a questioning eyebrow, he continued, "You know, people around you seem- wait, scratch that- _definitely_ know something, and they wouldn't spill?"

He got a slow nod in response and Naruto continued to talk, both of them still walking despite the blonde's backward stance. "Doesn't that irk you? Not knowing and stuff?" When Gaara had only looked at him pointedly, Naruto sighed, thinking he wouldn't have a decent conversation with his friend about this. He spun around to face forward again, hands folded behind his head. Naruto was about to move to a different topic when the redhead spoke up.

"A wise man once said, 'Don't ask questions you wouldn't want answers to'."

The blonde stilled and did his best to glare at his friend who was now at his side. "You've been watching movies too much again." He pouted and both of them proceeded to walk down the semi-empty hallway. No one bothered to stay inside the building or roam the corridors during lunch break most of the time. "I didn't really ask a specific question, I just wanted to know what they know. Is that bad?"

Gaara snorted. "You still asked, Naruto. They're not telling you for a _reason_."

"For fuck's sake, everyone knows I hate being kept in the dark!" Naruto cried and tousled his hair in outrage. "It's bad enough that two strangers- dangerous weirdoes!- came. Now my parents are acting all friendly around them and won't explain shit to me."

The Namikaze realized his slip up far too late. Widening his eyes, he peered at his friend who was giving him a calculating look. He didn't plan on mentioning to his friends about the Uchiha siblings from the scroll thing. They were supposed to be their 'neighbors', 'childhood friends'. Just that. They wouldn't believe what he saw anyway. He was waiting for Gaara to demand answers, like what he was doing. When none came, he breathed a sigh of relief, aware of the redhead looking at him from the corner of his eye. That's what he liked about Gaara, he wouldn't pry for information unless it was freely given to him or was really needed.

'_Better than a mirror or a rock. Mirrors yell back at me and rocks won't give me a proper verbal abuse- er, advice.'_

"But yeah," Naruto continued, "I just feel like I have the right to know about what's happening this time."

The redhead chanced another glance at him before smirking a bit. "Good things come to those who wait."

Naruto didn't know if he was supposed to feel frustrated or just outright laugh at his friend's current behavior. "Dude, what's up with the wise quotes? Are you secretly hiding a whole book of that in your pocket?"

"One does not simply ask questions and get some answers."

"I'm going to hurt you." He narrowed his eyes. "Even if you're my friend."

"Learn to appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had."

"_Seriously?_ The hell did you eat this morning? Oh, wait, wait! I know, you're getting back at me for trying _and_ succeeding to draw pink eyebrows on you!" Naruto's excited laugh slowly dissolved into worried gulps. He began to step back, away from the redhead who definitely resembled a serial killer at the moment. Add a bloody knife to one of his hands and he'd pass off as one quite nicely. "Well fuck, I apologized for that already!"

He took off running far, _far _away from the redhead, as far and fast as his feet could take him. He barely caught the words that were called to him while he ran, "You just had to remind me, Namikaze!" Gaara almost never used his last name. He swallowed again, but during the sprint, he laughed. Not particularly caring that he was running for his life down the halls. With an angry Gaara Sabaku on his tail, things often ended up resembling a thriller, suspense movie. His mirthful laugh only died down when he reached the end of the hall. Naruto saw the door that lead outside and considered going back instead, since he didn't want to stop hiding from any of his friends yet. He shook his head and decided to push it open, and then he walked out.

Only to find himself tackled to the ground by an annoying weight on top of him,

"Found you," the voice drawled.

"Argh. Get off, get off, get _off_!" Naruto practically banged his fists on the grassy land, feet swinging back and forth irritably. He almost instantly regretted stepping foot outside as he whined like a child. The assaulter merely stifled a yawn while he sat down on the blonde's lower back, mindful of his surroundings. Not that there was much to see. Naruto had chosen to use one of the fire exits at the side of the building, which had quite a narrow route again outside.

"Mercy! Show some mercy!"

"Why not try saying please, and I might give you what you want?" the other suggested in a seemingly bored tone, both legs on either side of the captive.

"Okay. Please, get off me." There was a pause, and Naruto had spoken more calmly, almost in a whisper, "Please, Sasuke?"

Sasuke would have given in to that pleading, cute voice. But he stood his ground, smirk in place. "I didn't say I would agree, did I?"

Naruto gritted his teeth and then shouted, "You bastard! You told me you would give it to me! I even had to _beg_!"

The Uchiha quirked a brow and then pointed out smugly, "I hope you know the implications of your statement, and the earlier ones as well." He leaned forward so his head would be in front of the blonde's, both seeing eye-to-eye. "Sounds so wrong, and yet... so sexy."

Sasuke raised his head just in time to dodge the punches that were sent his way. Naruto had a pretty good aim even for the position he was in. He was able to get a punch in, albeit not as hard as his normal ones due to his current situation. Sasuke thought it was worth it, to see the flushed, embarrassed expression of the person underneath him.

'_And he's flexible too. Oh, the benefits of that.'_ The raven snapped out of his thoughts before it could lead to an 'unmanageable' problem again. Not a good time to start thinking naughty stuff when he was sitting on the blonde, dangerously rubbing against the other on _accident_.

Naruto grew tired and had stopped struggling already, promising to resume his resistance in a bit until the other teen lifted his 'retarded pale fat ass' off of him. Sasuke decided he needed to punish the other for his recklessness, so he opted to tickle him senselessly.

"NO! ENOUGH ALREADY!"

The Uchiha, of course, _knew_ where exactly to tickle the blonde.

His fun was cut off shortly though, when something small had hit him square in the head. It didn't really hurt, but it annoyed him. He couldn't help but rub the sore spot as he twisted his body a little to glare at the perpetrator.

"I said find him, not rape him. Geez," Sakura scolded with a dramatic shake of her head. She calmly walked over the legs sprawled over the grass and crouched down in front of Naruto, uniform skirt tucked in between her thighs and legs to avoid revealing anything unnecessary.

"A little help here?" Naruto inclined his head. Beads of sweat had already formed around his right temple.

Sakura ignored his plea while she poked lightly at the blonde's nose. "Kushina gave you a ring and she says not to call back anymore. She just wanted to inform you about that um, talk you're going to have later." She poked his cheek next, all the while oblivious to the menacing glare and aura emanating from the Uchiha who was still perched on the blonde's torso. "Something important, I guess."

Naruto blinked, excitement bubbled up inside him. "Did Mom say anything else? How come she didn't throw a fit this time when I wasn't there to pick up?"

She switched her gaze to Sasuke, who was looking at Naruto's phone in a confused and curious manner as he held it in his hands. "I told her you were still giving Sasuke-kun a tour of the other parts of our school, and had forgotten to bring your phone as usual."

The Uzumaki rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that last statement still works almost every time."

Sakura smiled then stood up. "Everyone went back to their classrooms already, since lunch break is almost over."

After she had disappeared inside the building, Sasuke chose that moment to lean over again. He dangled his hand that was holding Naruto's phone in front of him, making sure to press down a bit more against the blonde.

"Oi, what's this?" He was meaning to ask that ever since he had seen Haruno take it out of the moron's bag.

"Let me up and I'll tell you."

Sasuke reluctantly got off his captive, giving the other a hand as he stood up, while Naruto seemed to be making a tough decision on how to reply. The blonde laughed loudly, only stopping to answer when he got elbowed. "For someone who always calls me a dobe, you're not really smart. It's a phone, duh."

When he only got an arched eyebrow in response, he finally realized that advanced technology might not really be highly known at the weirdoes' world. Seeing as how they had emerged from a scroll, of all _things._

Naruto grinned at him as they headed back inside. "C'mon, I'll tell you on the way to class."

"Sure."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

To say Naruto was frustrated beyond the point of retarded dissatisfaction was an understatement.

He was expecting his parents to finally tell him the truth. To reveal every important stuff, detail and information he _knew_ they had kept from him all along. The young Namikaze knew it wasn't just a measly secret for them to react the way they did, when he told them about Sasuke's swirling red eyes. No normal human being would possess that kind of pair of eyes, anyway. Both of his parents were already waiting for him in his dad's study. But after getting a phone call from Minato's uncle, they had changed their decision of telling him. He was sure it was Jiraiya who was on the line, the one who had refused the idea of recounting the whole story to him.

They had backed down from their promise and that's what irritated him the most.

He deserved to know! But now he was beginning to wonder what would've happened if the Uchiha siblings didn't appear before him that day or if he didn't get curious and find that old, blank scroll in their storage room. Would they keep lying to him? Would things remain as they were? Naruto being unknowing and oblivious, after all?

He loved his parents dearly. Family and friends meant everything to him but, a person could only endure so much.

He looked down on his hands that were shaking a bit, and then was startled out of his reverie by a voice he had began to know so well after just a week had gone by. A week after he had met the otherworldly siblings.

"Why do you have a rope tied around your ankle?"

"I'm trying to commit suicide," Naruto answered firmly.

In a few strides, Sasuke was right in front of him. He sat down gracefully on the floor and then continued to watch the blonde.

"That's not the proper way of killing yourself with a rope." He pointed an index finger at the ceiling. "You should be hanging yourself by the neck."

"I tried that earlier. I couldn't breathe, so I changed my mind and decided to use my foot instead."

"..."

Naruto scratched his head. "What?"

"You are a disgrace to _all_ suicide committers," Sasuke explained with a sigh while the other rolled his eyes. "Never use the rope again and don't even make another _attempt _at this."

"Not sure if I should feel happy about that."

"Don't be, I wasn't praising you." Sasuke leisurely untied the cord that was wrapped around the blonde's ankle. As soon as he had bundled it into a roll, he disappeared into his room.

Naruto grinned. As if he could and would really do it, he loved his family and friends too much. He had situated himself in the living room, after all, where anyone could blatantly see him. It _was_ annoying though, to keep waiting for the right time for him to know.

"Well sometimes the 'right time' wouldn't come unless you, yourself, make it happen," he muttered to himself.

* * *

**AN: **Yeaaaaaah, that last part. Lulz. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THE LAST PART! Anyway, the song I used for Naruto's ringtone is _By My Side_ by _Hemenway_, it's Shippuuden's 20th ending song. Man, the Naruto animation for that was so awesome. It's like... it just _fit so perfectly._ I prefer the animation than the song's actual music video, it was much more meaningful.

Quotes used by Gaara were randomly chosen off google. Except this one that I've thought of on the spot, "_One does not simply ask questions and get some answers_." And this one, _"Don't ask questions you wouldn't want answers to."_ – Agent K in MIB 3.

_NEXT CHAPTER:  
__Naruto struggles harder to unravel the truth about his past and the two 'strangers'.  
A surprise visit.  
The Uzumaki-Namikaze residence runs out of... ramen!? *le gasp*_

ANYWAYS, DROP ME AN AWESOME REVIEW, DEAREST AWESOME READER, WHO IS READING THIS AWESOME AUTHOR'S NOTE :D


	11. Shinjitsu

**A/N: **This is the **last chapter** and it will explain a lot about Naruto's situation and some tidbits regarding the past. But if you have some questions, feel free to ask me! Happy reading!

_Chapter dedicated to __**NarutoRox **__(whom I've been neglecting, without meaning to) __and __**ChubbyPikapi!**_

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 11: Truth**

* * *

"How long do you plan on staying in bed?"

Kushina had been asking the same question thrice now, but she still got the same mumbled reply from her son, only a bit longer, "It's Saturday, Mom... I get free reign on my bed at least once a week."

The red haired woman took several steps closer to her son's large bed and sat down on it. She coaxed him gently again to get up, but Naruto opened only one eye to glance at the orange digital clock at his nightstand. Seeing it was just a little past eight in the morning, he pulled his blanket over his head and buried himself further in the bundle of sheets and pillows. He liked a lot of pillows around him to the point that it was almost suffocating for other people.

Kushina continuously tapped the leg that poked out from under the covers. She was definitely unyielding to her son's plea to leave him alone. The only change that occurred during her whole fifteen-minute stay in the spacious orange bedroom was Naruto's rolling from one side to the other on the bed. She was actually merciful for once as she decided to persuade her son first instead of furiously barging in and dragging him out of his bed literally. Naruto, however, was too sleepy to realize the sudden good change and semi-blessing in disguise on a Saturday morning.

"Mom... Go bug the other guys in the house..." the young Uzumaki's muffled words were heard underneath the thick layer of fabric, "M'sure they need some waking up too."

"But I've already prepared breakfast."

"Don't want food right now," Naruto mumbled on without really thinking.

Kushina's brow twitched while she looked incredulously at her barely awake son. With one fluid motion, she swept the huge blanket off of him and then snapped, "NARUTO UZUMAKI-NAMIKAZE!" She grabbed her son by the ankle and pulled agitatedly, albeit, she was still careful not to hurt his head too much when it hit the carpeted floor upon his fall.

"M-Mom!?"

Now fully awake and aware of the situation, Naruto could only clutch tightly at his pillow which he dragged with him as a sense of comfort. Kushina's sudden action jolted him wide awake from his peaceful slumber.

"I've already said so before that I will _not_ allow anyone to refuse the food once it's served in this house! And to think I've gone through the trouble of waking you up gently! We always eat together at the table, Naruto!" She began dragging him outside the room, all the while muttering several more reasons why her son needed to get up from bed. A bedroom door cautiously opened as Kushina was about to pass by.

"What's all the ruckus about?" Sasuke asked coolly after greeting the woman, keeping his door slightly ajar as he poked his head out.

Kushina smiled and chuckled a bit, looking nothing like the demon mother she was moments prior. "It's nothing, Sa-kun. Naru-chan just needed a little waking up." She made a gesture with her thumb and index finger to emphasize her point.

It was just then did he bother looking down to notice the blonde idiot on the floor, mumbling and cursing to himself while hugging the pillow tightly to his chest. He resisted the urge to outright laugh, so he plastered a smirk instead when his eyes locked onto Naruto's. The other was definitely glaring at him in his state, but refused to say anything while his mother still held onto his foot. Although, looking at Naruto now, Sasuke had never felt so much hatred for an object (such as a pillow) ever in his life. The thing was obscuring his view from seeing more of the toned body of the blonde, who was still only in his boxers. Three years had brought good changes to both their physiques.

_Very good, indeed,_ Sasuke thought.

"Oh, by the way, breakfast's ready. So tell Tachi-kun to come down too." Kushina hummed cheerfully while she continued trotting down the hall with a silently complaining son in tow.

The youngest Uchiha was about to make a passing comment about his _friend's_ misery, but the other beat him to it. "_Fuck_ _off_," Naruto mouthed to Sasuke from his upturned position on the floor, which he responded with a feigned confused look.

Itachi caught a glimpse of the younger Namikaze's odd yet humorous state when he opened his door, before the mother-and-son could proceed down the stairs. His room was only across his sibling's.

"Is that... Foxy?"

Sasuke only gave him a nod but his smirk broadened.

"I see. So that must be where the fuss was coming from so early in the morning," Itachi made a smirk of his own. "This incident now reminds me why we've all decided not to get on Kushina's bad side."

The older Uchiha was about retreat back into his room to change his clothes when Sasuke decided to add some more words, "It doesn't look like it's the first time he's handled this kind of situation. The way he kept his mouth shut all the while surprised me, and he had that pillow ready for the bumpy ride down the stairs."

"You should learn from his example then, little brother, in case Mother gets any notion of doing the same thing when we get home."

Sasuke huffed. "I wouldn't let myself be put in such an embarrassing state for others to see."

"We'll see. You never know... Better keep your guards up then."

Sasuke could've sworn his sibling would once again flick his dark, evil cape if he had one. Then he'd cackle menacingly at him. The bastard.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Naruto stifled a loud yawn while he sat down at the table, completely oblivious to the penetrating gaze his mother was subjecting him to. Minato noticed this and decided to cut his son some slack, so he planned to swiftly engage a conversation at the table with the Uchiha brothers. Itachi and Sasuke silently slipped into their seats, one on each side of the blonde teen and across the two adults. They sat at the round dining table which was quite huge. They uttered their greetings to the Namikaze couple and some friendly taunts to the half-awake son

Naruto huffed and glared at them alternately, but only another yawn came out of his mouth when he tried to fight back with words. He was now fully clothed in a black T-shirt and an orange pair of shorts, much to Sasuke's disappointment. It seemed he had spare clothes tucked away somewhere downstairs, for emergency situations (Kushina Cases, as Father-and-Son would like to call them).

"So Sasuke, how's life here in the small town of Kizuna compared to Konoha? I hope we didn't really wake you guys up too early on a weekend." Minato grabbed the plate full of pancakes and started dishing them out for the other occupants of the dining area while Kushina poured some orange juice in their glasses.

The youngest Namikaze's attention was immediately caught so he opted to listen attentively for once. If he was some kind of dog, his ears would have perked up in interest.

Sasuke nodded as thanks to the food laid out on his plate. He was silently handed the syrup by the blonde sitting beside him as he spoke, "It's alright. As Shinobi, it doesn't really matter what day it is. Missions are given and taken mostly irrelevant to the time."

Out of the blue, they heard the distinct sound of the doorbell ringing.

"Naruto, dear, could you get that please? I'm sure our visitor hasn't had his breakfast yet."

"Sure thing, Mom."

He stood up with a grin after swallowing down his food, and then pecked his mom on the cheek on his way out of the dining room.

Before he could get past the table though, his wrist got caught in someone's grip. He was pulled back a few steps, now several inches away from Sasuke. The Uchiha's free hand reached up to his face and Naruto had half the mind to bite the pale fingers that were so close to his mouth. Maybe they tasted like chicken?

Nah, bastard flesh and blood wouldn't do well for his healthy diet.

He almost flinched when the aforementioned index finger dabbed on his right cheek, dragging it along a short length from his cheek to the corner of his mouth. Instinctively, Naruto's tongue poked out to swipe several times at the digit lightly prodding him, and then tasted something sweet. Sasuke smirked and with widened eyes, Naruto realized the mistake he just did. He also noticed how the Uchiha had long since let go of his wrist, which had given him the freedom to run away from him before the blonde decided to lick the bastard's finger.

Sasuke then retracted his hand, and took a swipe with his own tongue, swirling it around the finger. It was coated with syrup seconds ago and Naruto just licked at it innocently. Sasuke didn't particularly liked sweets, but this one tasted very familiar that he almost wished he had kissed the other teen instead, right then and there. Naruto's face instantly reddened when the Uchiha lightly sucked on his finger now. Man, he felt like he was watching something entirely different when it was _only_ a finger.

Face still beet red, he shifted his gaze to his parents who were _oddly _sharing a newspaper they've conjured up from somewhere. Naruto inwardly snorted. His mother never bothered to read it and his father never read it in the mornings - he always left it for later.

The blonde gaped a bit more before finally collecting himself, smiling sweetly, he reached out to Sasuke, the same way the other had done to him earlier with his hand. With all the force he could muster, Naruto flicked his pale ear as hard as he could with his _wonderful_ fingers, simultaneously yelling, "PERVERT!"

"OW!"

Sasuke was almost sure he had lost an ear, and was about to start looking where it landed on the floor, had he not reached up and cupped the abused organ to check for himself. He had shut his eyes from the pain, that blonde moron sure flicked hard. And upon refocusing his gaze again, Naruto was no longer in front of him.

"How bold of you," Sasuke heard his brother's nonchalant comment. "In front of his parents, at that."

He shrugged. Minato and Kushina had readily accepted their relationship years ago, but he figured he wasn't _that_ daring before. He chanced a look at the couple and was surprised to see them looking at him too; both of them had similar grins on their faces just that Minato was giving him a thumbs-up and Kushina was clasping her hands together in delight. Again, he smirked to himself and then to his brother, who paid no attention to his now full-blown smile.

"Sorry about the ear," Minato offered sheepishly, "Kushina can always sew it back on you if our son goes berserk like his mother."

Both Uchiha siblings snorted in amusement while the redheaded woman smacked her husband on the back of his head.

Meanwhile, Naruto managed to do his successful dining room exit without further interruptions. Evading a few couch cushions that had fallen on the floor, he hastily made his way out of the main door then towards the large white gates. Their guest seemed to have heard his approach as a voice sounded from the other side.

"I am _starving_ over here, people! Is this some kind of test? Do I need to force my way in without really breaking the gates or doors?" the voice blabbered on.

Naruto already knew the voice without checking through the eyehole, he shook his head helplessly before opening the front gates.

"Hey, brat!" Jiraiya alternated between ruffling and patting his student's head when his face came into view.

"Pervy Sage!"

"Why do you keep calling me a Sage?" he asked, honestly curious. He seemed to pick up a lot of things from his old habits, even the forgotten ones.

Naruto half-heartedly swatted at the hand that was intent on messing up his already unkempt blonde mop of hair. "I don't know." He paused, looking surprised and confused as well. "It just comes out naturally, I guess," he shrugged with one shoulder.

Jiraiya decided he would leave it at that. "How've you been?"

"Been doing great! There's just these two weirdos who wouldn't leave me alone." he caught Jiraiya's wrist and pinched the skin with his free hand. He smirked when the older man let out a pained sound.

"Aside from not knowing anything _at all_, everything's fine! Eh," The teen faltered a bit as he glanced behind his godfather, "You aren't with the old... Hag...?"

Naruto was trying to look for something. But seemingly unable to find it since he didn't even know who or what he was looking for. He gazed up at Jiraiya while he racked up his mind for _anything. _His eyes were clouded with confusion while his head was swarmed with questions - ones he suspected would be unanswered or evaded.

Jiraiya had caught on quickly to what was happening although he chose to keep a passive face on instead. He merely lifted an eyebrow as he spoke, "Old hag?" He turned around, performing a mock search in the area. "I've always been visiting you alone, Naruto."

"Blonde hair... inhumane strength," he muttered quietly to himself, but Jiraiya's senses were keen enough to have heard them. The young Uzumaki blinked twice before reverting to his usual energetic self.

"Oh, right, right." He laughed sheepishly and then dragged his godfather inside the house. "We'll miss breakfast if you don't hurry your old ass up!"

"Oi! Watch your tongue, kid!" Jiraiya reprimanded sternly although a grin broke out on his face shortly after.

As soon as he had stepped foot inside the house, his former student was instantly there. Minato gave a brief respectful bow to him and greeted warmly, "Sensei, you seem well."

Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder with a grin, "I keep telling you to drop the formalities already. And besides, I'm not your sensei anymore- you've surpassed me already."

"Maybe so, but old habits die hard." They chuckled together as they went in further of the house. The whole place couldn't be considered a mansion, but it was large enough to fit less than ten people without sharing rooms.

Naruto eagerly led the way to the dining room, as if his godfather hadn't been there countless of times already, while cautiously sidestepping the fallen couch cushions that were still on the carpeted floor.

"Well, if it isn't the Brooding Brothers!" Jiraiya laughed merrily, hands on hips while he examined how the pair had grown up in three years. They both stood up and gave their silent greetings to the Sennin with respectful nods. When he neared them, Jiraiya patted Itachi quite roughly on the back and ruffled Sasuke's perfectly made hair. The older sibling wisely kept quiet as he stepped away from the overly-friendly man, while the younger one huffed and resisted the urge to resort to violence. He mumbled something about not being a child anymore and of all the things, he wasn't _broody._

Taking his place between Itachi and Minato at the rather large round table, Jiraiya gave his thanks for the meal and rubbed his hands together in delight when he saw food laid out in front of him. He began loading his plates and asked to pass the unreachable ones. Food was fast piling up on his plate just as Naruto did a while ago. He was all too familiar with everyone at the table anyway to even think about restraint. Albeit, not so much with the raven haired siblings.

"I swear half of my rations go to this old man." Naruto continued to bite and swallow, leaving out chewing most of the time.

Jiraiya snorted. "At least it's not going to waste. You eat mostly ramen anyway, regardless of the time of the day or food served."

Naruto childishly stuck out his tongue at him. He gave a sideway glance to his side and eyed the untouched waffle on Sasuke's plate, while the Uchiha eyed the wet muscle instead, which was still poking out from pouty lips. Sensing that the other teen would make no move to eat what his mother dished out to him, Naruto skilfully snatched the waffle away from its owner with no second thoughts. Sasuke dully raised an eyebrow at him.

"You won't eat it anymore, would you?" He received a brief shake of the head. "Then-"

"I'll be taking this," Itachi dutifully stabbed the waffle that was still hanging in the air on Naruto's fork, and claimed it with his own.

Naruto gasped and looked appalled at the person on his other side. "Y-You thief!"

Itachi arched a brow that was similar to what his sibling had done moments prior. "Sharing is caring and besides-"

"It's not sharing if you took away _everything!_" the blonde whined in between.

"-this was my little brother's to begin with, so I have more right to take it." His lips were twitching upwards in amusement. Sasuke couldn't resist joining in when Itachi was occupying too much of the blonde's attention.

"On second thought," the younger Uchiha reached over Naruto, making sure he lightly grazed against him, "I'll be taking this back, thanks." He forked the waffle over to him, brushing against the blonde again as he moved to and fro his seat.

"But, but you already gave it to me!" He clamped a hand over Sasuke's wrist, effectively stopping his movement even without the hold being tight.

Itachi and Sasuke looked ready to argue until a voice broke through the commotion.

"As entertaining as this is," Jiraiya drawled with a fond smile, his chin resting on a palm. "fighting over a piece of waffle isn't really Shinobi or Uchiha-class, much less when you have us as the audience," he teased and gestured to himself and to the Namikaze couple, then got three pairs of glares for that comment. Although he wasn't entirely sure why Naruto would glare too, since he didn't even remember what a Shinobi was. "Oh, don't worry. I was rooting for you Naruto."

His godson grumbled to himself but stayed seated, munching on a few remaining eggs and toast, while the Uchiha brothers chose to plaster on twin smirks. Sasuke had successfully retrieved his waffle from the two, and it seemed Itachi was only bugging Naruto earlier for the heck of it. He saw the younger Brooding Brother sneak half of his waffle onto the blonde's plate and he just _had_ to smile at that. Jiraiya was about to resume eating when he felt a hand slap him a bit roughly on the arm. He blinked questioningly at Kushina, who was leaning over her grinning husband.

"No elbows on the table please," she reminded with a smile dangerously. At that, everyone, including Minato, immediately sat up straight and made sure to keep their elbows off of the flat surface. Women tended to scare them sometimes.

Jiraiya sheepishly obeyed.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Breakfast had ended peacefully an hour ago. Thankfully, none of the boys - especially Naruto - had gone _violent_ after the Waffle War. Minato suspected that it wouldn't be the last time the feud would occur during meals. It was amusing to see his son being lively in the morning so he didn't have the heart to stop the fun going on. Neither did his wife, since she seemed perfectly content watching the boys earlier without going into Nagging Mother mode.

Currently, he was leading Jiraiya upstairs to his study when he heard Naruto call out to him. He paused, midway through, and saw his son grinning excitedly at the bottom of the stairs. He knew exactly what Naruto had in mind when the teen was immediately next to him in a few seconds.

"Hey son, why don't you take Sasuke and Itachi with you for a good stroll around town? I'm sure you three will enjoy seeing the lake here in Kizuna. It's too cold to swim in the last week of October, though."

"Um no, Dad. I'm joining in whatever conversation you're having." He grimaced at Jiraiya. "Unless it's gonna be about your _escapades._"

Kushina giggled into her closed fist as her eyes darted from Jiraiya, to her two boys and finally to the Uchiha pair. "Apparently, Jiraiya-sensei never learned about the term, 'too much information'. Naruto either walks out of the room or hit his godfather on the head," she explained with a small grin. She got a pair of understanding nods as response.

Noticing her husband signalling to her wordlessly, she motioned for her son to follow her, crooking a finger at him. Naruto tilted his head in question but obeyed nonetheless. He was back down and, in a few moments, was beside his mother at the doorway.

"I expect him to return to us unscathed!" Minato called out to his wife who was making faces at him for the comment.

Kushina placed a tender hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezed, guiding him outside through the door in the kitchen.

Minato rubbed the back of his head, an action that was commonly shared between him and his son. The two ravens were climbing up stairs when he spoke, "I guess we should go on, I talked with Kushina and we both agreed to let our son find out some matters regarding him. If the sealing jutsu would be released all of a sudden, Naruto might not handle the onslaught of thirteen years of memories in one go. Or at least, the ones he remembers during those years. At any rate, if we tell him bit by bit, it would slowly help him without having to break the Memory Sealing jutsu yet."

Minato paused, as if gauging the three males' reactions. None of them looked too thrilled. _But that was to be expected from the Brooding-_ Minato coughed and quickly corrected his thoughts- _Uchiha siblings_.

"You're not gonna tell him everything or who he really is?" Sasuke's brows were drawn together in a confused manner. "Even about the Kyuubi...?"

"I wouldn't say it's not my place to do that, but the seal would weaken on its own when the time comes." The Namikaze smiled reassuringly. "He'll find out about the whole truth for himself even without me telling him or Kushina releasing the jutsu that's securing his memories."

Both Sasuke and Itachi looked pensive for a moment before the older one mused, "Sasuke insists on keeping the information withholding to a minimum. In his case, though, he would like to reenact every moment he had shared with Foxy."

The aforementioned teen elbowed his brother on the side with a fierce glare. Minato and Jiraiya were chuckling at him! Feeling heat creep onto his face, he quickly shot his hands up in a gesture of bringing no harm. "I promise not to indulge him too much when he asks questions, or reveal more than necessary," he spoke seriously despite his embarrassed state a few seconds ago. His words left no trace of doubt in the three adults with him.

"I'll kill you, Itachi," Sasuke muttered lowly to his brother, but Itachi pretended not to hear.

They turned to Jiraiya who had remained silent throughout the discussion among them. He rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger while saying, "Alright, I have no more qualms about disclosing some of those locked up memories. As long as we can guarantee he wouldn't start asking us _nicely_ to come back to Konoha and beat that old man's ass into nothingness."

Itachi saw Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan flare as he was reminded of Danzou. The Uchihas had buried the Uchiha clan massacre incident long ago when the period of Itachi as a double agent ended. He had left his family alive. Seeing as how his father and mother were resigned to their fates, trusting their lives to their eldest's hands, and his beloved little brother, whom was only around nine or ten years old. Fugaku had changed for the better after opening his eyes. None of them blamed Itachi for what he was ordered to do. Instead of growing up hating his older brother for killing their kin, Sasuke hated, _loathed_ Danzou with his whole being for putting Itachi in such a difficult position.

Both Danzou and the remaining four members of the Uchiha clan agreed to secrecy on what transpired that night, if neither party would hurt the other afterwards. If one of them was to let the truth out, Danzou's reputation would surely go down the drain and lose the trust of everyone in Konoha, save for the Elders. The Uchihas wouldn't be able to uphold their name if others found out about the clan's planned coup d'état and Itachi's 'betrayal'. Either way, it would be a lose-lose for both sides. Their cover up for the clansmen killing incident that night was that a group of Uchihas had been overwhelmed with envy after seeing countless ninjas from the other countries and villages stronger than them. A thirst for power. Fugaku had quickly racked up his mind for plausible individuals that could kill the whole clan when working together, except for the main family members and some _particular_ people. He came up with three names in less than five minutes.

"_In a spur of the moment, Inabi, Tekka and Yashiro Uchiha, renowned men of the Konoha Military Police Force, had wiped out almost all of the whole clan during the night. To prove how immense their strengths and prowess were, they killed each Uchiha they came across, not even sparing the young and old ones. We had every right to avenge the deaths of our relatives. Itachi and I finished them off ourselves when they had arrived at our home, seeking to kill us first. It was a tragic incident for us, however, we still stand firm as members of the Uchiha clan, and hope for this incident to be buried to our people's graves. Even so, the Uchiha clan massacre will not be entirely forgotten, and it will serve as a reminder to us of how much we had lost, and could still lose, had we not realized that power and being recognized for it isn't everything, and open our eyes to what's truly important." _

Itachi could still remember every word his father had spoken in his statement regarding the incident. He could still recall how his father had glanced at his mother, himself and Sasuke, after he finished his speech. Itachi might have been moved, like most of the Konoha villagers when the Third Hokage gathered them all for the announcement. However, he and his family knew they had to act as if Danzou or any of the higher ups of Konoha had nothing to do with the order given to him. His thoughts were clouded with intent to do something, albeit subtly, about the ANBU Root's leader. Itachi was a pacifist. He knew his clan's supposed rebellion would have started another war, but he was also aware of Danzou's underhanded means of _protecting_ Konoha which shouldn't be disregarded.

Itachi was brought back from his musing when he heard the former Hokage's voice.

"We'll leave the Kyuubi and Danzou ones out." Minato sighed but continued, "I know it wasn't the best option to temporarily remove all information about his previous experiences, but we all know Naruto. He wouldn't have left Konoha on his own will if it meant he could protect his friends and the people himself, by staying. But at the same time, we are aware of the risks if we didn't leave. My son is just too stubborn."

Minato's tone was calm but held finality in them. He could see Jiraiya didn't seem unsure anymore about his decision to reveal facts about Naruto's past and real identity.

Clapping his hands together, Minato declared, "Alright, let's head up to my study room. I can't believe we've been standing here on the stairways long enough for Sensei's back to start hurting while talking seriously about my son's situation."

"Minato!" Jiraiya almost gasped in shock, "I'm not _that_ old!"

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Okay so... where to start?"

They were lounging almost lazily on the bench situated in front of a small garden, which was just behind their house. Naruto was debating whether to stay where they sat, or move to the two-seater table a few feet away from them, so he could talk face-to-face with his mother. But he felt like she would have to comfort him with several hugs now and then during the talk. And having an obstacle in the middle, with his mom still needing to reach over just to give him warmth, wasn't preferable compared to having her only a few inches away for comfort.

"Naruto, dear, where or how do you want me to start?" Kushina asked again, tucking a stray blonde lock behind her son's ear. He needed a haircut, she noted. It had grown quite long already for some strands to reach his cheeks, like his father's. Ah, what a tough decision she had to make for her son's hair.

They were on the spot shadowed by the house, not that the sun was doing them any harm. It was rather chilly outside already and they could use a bit more sunlight. Naruto swore under his breath for not remembering. He was outside wearing only a thin shirt and a pair of shorts, while he _knew _his mother was kept warm by her sweater, with comfortable pajamas underneath. He would have gone back inside and changed, but the chilly weather didn't really bother him. It wasn't that cold yet.

Naruto frowned. He didn't really know why he was procrastinating now. Where did his days of eagerness go to?

He took a deep breath and half turned to face his mom. "Let's start with the reason my past memories were sealed."

Kushina smiled at him. "Good choice."

"You see, your Dad and I... Well, half of the people who care about our son and the greater good, wanted to prevent you from rushing back to Konoha as soon as we arrive here." She gestured around them in a sweeping motion with her hand. "The other half suggested that you stay in our village – you've heard it enough times from the boys, right? That Konoha was, _is_, our real home? – cause it's where you belong; with us, your parents, with your friends and with the rest of the Shinobi world. But Naruto, above anything, Minato and I don't want you to get hurt, so we've decided escaping to this world instead."

Naruto frantically waved his hands. "Wait, wait, _wait_! Are you saying that _I'm_ a Shinobi? _I'm_ one of you guys? _I'm _not normal!?"

Kushina blinked and chuckled. "Of course you are, but nobody's normal nowadays, sweetie."

Her son nodded firmly. He could agree with that, especially how he'd been interacting with the two newcomers for almost a week now. They were just _weird_.

_And annoying_, he thought, _I can't even go somewhere without that Duck-butt following me. Thank God he leaves me alone when I pee or take a shower. But wait! What if - !_

The female Uzumaki nudged him on the shoulder, "Naruto?" He looked at her with a worried-stricken face which she just smiled at. "Anyway, I'll continue now."

"Your past memories aren't permanently erased; they are merely locked up by a sealing technique I performed. Those sealed memories," she poked her son's temple, "will instantly resurface when a certain trigger appears, or if the jutsu is removed by the person who placed it on you," she now started drawing circular patterns.

"Oh and whatever trigger that is, it can only be set by the caster. So if I wanted you to remember _everything_ when you look at, let's say, a rock or a passing car," she stopped moving altogether, "you will, definitely." And then she flicked him on the temple, hard enough for the skin to redden but not enough to cause him pain.

Naruto began thinking for a moment before innocently and excitedly asking, "So, what's the trigger to mine?"

Kushina smirked at him, "What makes you think I've even placed a trigger on your memories in the first place?"

"What!?" He was half torn between annoyance and incredulity. "But you _have_ to have used one!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, dear," she replied sweetly and Naruto now remembered how evil his mother could be.

"Mom!" he whined.

When she didn't relent, he gave up and asked something else, "What happened that you had to seal it so badly? What's so important about me not going back anyway?" Kushina could've sworn she saw his eyes change to slits for a split-second. "I know I'd be in danger if we go back, but what _is_ this danger that we're running away from?"

Kushina momentarily stiffened before relaxing again. She reached out both of her hands to grab onto her son's, squeezing them comfortingly. "I'd rather you not know, for now."

Her heart clenched when she saw hurt flash through his eyes.

"Naruto, dear..." She pulled him closer to her until he was finally enveloped in her embrace. "Please understand, there are some things that we can't tell you yet since we are preventing certain... events from happening." The red haired woman hugged him even tightly. "It's for your own safety."

Naruto was again torn between feeling livid for being kept in the dark for so long about the whole agenda, and feeling that unexplainable sadness for not being able to return to their _real _home as his _real _self. He heard her mother whisper soothingly in his ear that they would explain things better to him slowly, day by day, until she can finally release the seal that she placed on him.

They had arrived here three years ago, so he guessed his childhood memories of this world were pretty much fake.

He pulled away in his rumpled state and yelled, "You lied to me for all those years! You knew. You _all_ knew but said nothing! I had the right to know what was happening, what I was involved in, but none of you ever told me. I could be stuck with random people that may or may not even be my so-called family in the first place- !"

Naruto was expecting it. He was just trying to pinpoint which direction it would be coming from. The resounding slap that landed on his face brought him back to reality. But just because he expected it, didn't mean the pain would've been lessened considerably. He steadied himself again since the impact had sent him jolting away slightly. His eyes widened when he realized what he had just said, to his mother, no less. He reached up to his face and touched the stinging spot on his cheek. No doubt a red hand mark would be there.

Kushina was still glaring at him, eyes focused and gaze unchanging, for God knew how long. The silence stretched on, but Kushina's look had already softened back to her warm, motherly expression.

"I'm sorry," Naruto managed to blurt out, "I'm really sorry, Mom. I-I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just, just frustrated. I guess..."

"Forgive me for slapping you," Kushina instantly enveloped him once again in fierce hug, "we both talk too much sometimes."

But he had to make sure of one thing. Just one, and he'd cooperate obediently.

"You guys are still my family, right? I mean," he pulled back a little to jab a thumb to his chest, and look seriously at his mother, "I _am_ a real person, even when my memories return, these aren't all fake? Not you, not Dad, not Pervy Sage."

Okay so that was a lot of things. But still, it pretty much summarized into one question.

"I've always been Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, right? Son of-"

"Kushina Uzumaki; known as the Red-Hot Habanero of the Uzumaki clan, and Minato Namikaze; known as the Yellow Flash and the Fourth Hokage." She smiled and whacked his head slightly. "Of course we aren't fake! We're your family, no matter what! And you," she prodded her finger on his shoulder when he fully turned to face her, "are still you. You may have forgotten your past, but we didn't dare change anything else besides you not knowing about the Shinobi world." She immediately pulled him in again for another tight hug.

Naturally, he'd received the hardest blow among all of them concerned. Naruto was the target. He was the one whose memories were tampered with the most – even if it's to protect him. No matter how bad that sounded like, it was the truth. But Naruto realized he wasn't really angry at all. He was just confused. He was confused with his own identity. Who wouldn't be? After finding out that what you remember in your thirteen years of life _wasn't_ exactly what happened back then. At all.

But in his mother's embrace and with his father's constant encouraging words, he didn't think he'd have to doubt them or himself, for that matter. He drew his arms out and returned his mother's warm gesture in full force, silently feeling grateful to his parents, and everyone else, for all the efforts they had to put through just to keep him safe.

"Thanks, Mom," he whispered, grin now back in place.

Kushina beamed at him. "We love you so much, Naruto."

"I know," he smiled, "I love you guys too. But ramen will always be- OW!"

The red haired woman grinned and continued, "I'll at least tell you the name of that wretched man. Danzou has his own connections throughout the lands." She scrunched up her face in distaste. "Your father and I preferred a semi-permanent stay in one place since moving from one place to another every now and then was hard."

She sighed. "If we had chosen to stay in Konoha, or anywhere in that world, we would've eventually be found somewhere in the Five Great Countries. However, only Minato knows the teleportation jutsu and seal required to travel to the Human world." She paused, remembering a certain someone. "Although, he did leave a scroll for his former student in case emergencies happen – like how Itachi and Sasuke needed to flee here. 'Cause in this world, we are untraceable and unreachable to the enemy unless one of Danzou's men finds out about Minato's jutsu."

Naruto had been briefed moments ago about the basics – jutsu, Shinobi, village, Hokage, etc. - just some things that he could know without forcing Kushina to spill more.

He tilted his head in wonder then asked, "A while ago, you said Dad was the Fourth Hokage," his mom nodded, urging him to continue, "is he still the current one?"

"Well, no," she answered simply, "Minato gave up his claim over the title in order to protect you and be with his family in this parallel world. If he had stayed as Hokage, he wouldn't be able to leave since his duties would make him prioritize the village above anything else, and in that case, he couldn't just sacrifice both his family and Konoha. He values us, his family, more than anything."

Kushina refused to leave her husband to deal with problems (such as Danzou) alone. Even if he had stayed as Hokage, he wouldn't be able to make an outright move to persecute the old man or remove his power to do anything. Since the Council was backing him up, they believed his actions had great cause.

"Minato actually chose Jiraya-sensei as the next Hokage."

"_WHAT!?"_ Naruto slammed both of his hands on the bench. "That perverted old man _can't_ be the leader of a village! He just cant't! Konoha is doomed and I need to save everyone!"

Kushina fought down a laugh and managed a sympathetic smile instead. "Don't worry, he declined the offer." Her son visibly relaxed in relief here.

"You and him went on a journey to find Tsunade-sama instead, so she would be the Fifth."

They talked for an hour more about trivial stuff instead, leaning away from the serious or dangerous parts of the conversation. Naruto had asked about his life and friends over there that it would make him stay so badly. Kushina happily obliged in telling more stories, leaving out the part where he had half of his friends in Konoha staying in their current world. Suddenly, the topic was diverted to an unexpected one, brought up by Naruto himself.

"Erm, about Sasuke..." Naruto started rubbing the back of his neck – a sign that Kushina knew all too well that her son was getting nervous. _He gets fidgety every time._

She crossed her arms in mock haughtiness. "We are well-aware of your relationship, thank you very much."

When he looked at her as if his mother had grown three more heads, she rolled her eyes and smacked his arm lightly. "Uh... I just wanted to know if we were friends, or close enough for him to act all friendly with me."

"Gosh, Naruto, I knew I was kinda dense at times, but I didn't know you inherited it from me too!" She muttered, "and in your case, it's worse than mine."

He furrowed his brows, completely bewildered. "What did I do now?"

"Nothing much, but you're gonna drive him terribly insane. I won't be surprised if Sa-kun already is. He was a sweet child, that one, always comes to visit you even when you didn't have missions."

Naruto blinked once. And then another. Did he just hear his mother correctly? Sasuke had been... a _sweet_ child? Naruto wanted to laugh when his mother continued talking but held himself back from doing so. Seriously... Sasuke Uchiha, capable of kindness and generosity? Were they talking about the same person here?

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, so much family bonding here. This chapter is very much needed for the plot, so I hope you don't mind how it mostly lacked SasuNaru. But I guess it explained a lot already xD And oops, no ramen-shortage yet, hehe.

The three Uchihas; Inabi, Tekka and Yashiro, are all original characters by Masashi Kishimoto. They were the three people who questioned and accused Itachi of killing his best friend, Shisui.

Oh btw, **Happy April Fool's Day** :P Next update would be in a few days.  
Review please!


	12. Kizuna

A bit late but, I would like to give my utmost gratitude to these people:

**naname396, NarutoRox, Amyethious, AprilMae72, Verteufelt, CareBearCara101, NarutoFangirl101, sugardash, KuramaxChan, MoonIllusion** **and to the rest of you guys who had read and supported, enjoyed and reviewed this story!**

Yep, this chapter is still the same day as the previous chapter.

* * *

**In Between**

**Chapter 12: Bonds**

* * *

Fugaku Uchiha had always been mindful of his clan's welfare.

He had high expectations of each and every one, especially for his two sons. The only time he decided to remove his cold and uncaring outer shell was during the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. He was foolish to risk the safety of his clansmen when they decided to make a rebellion, knowing that the coup d'état had a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding. Itachi's 'betrayal' was for a cause, a greater good, he reminded himself. The revolt had failed without even deploying their men yet. He felt responsible for all their deaths, but he supposed it wasn't entirely their clan's fault for the need to cause an uprising.

The second chance that was given to him and his wife, he had accepted with renewed hope and point of view. Needless to say, he felt an immense amount of gratitude towards Sasuke and Itachi, for forgiving him and his wrongdoings as a father, and to his wife, who stayed with him even when she knew he was being too hard and hadn't been an ideal leader.

Fugaku also knew that Mikoto had always been reassuring their children that he was, in truth, a very caring man, even more so when it came to the well-being of his family. Slowly, since then, they decided to start anew as a _real _family, putting aside their hatred and revenge on Danzou.

The Uchiha decided it wouldn't do any good to wallow about troublesome events in the past. He stood up and walked to the yard, seemingly looking beyond.

"Kakashi," he called, "my son has left something of value to him in their haste to escape from here." Fugaku reached into his clothing and rummaged for the item. "This would be a good time to check on them and to deliver this to Sasuke."

Kakashi Hatake stepped out from the shadows; a small book in hand, as he came closer to the older man. He looked like he was just lazily strolling towards the Uchiha, but as soon as he looked up, his visible eye showed how attentive he was of his surroundings. He immediately closed his reading material and kept it in his shuriken bag, before Fugaku reached out to place the object in Kakashi's awaiting hand. As soon as he dropped it into his open palm, the Jounin studied it closely, trying to recall where it had come from. When he was finished inspecting, he lowered it from its eye-level position and then stored it safely into his pocket.

"I wasn't fully informed of the changes that had vastly occurred these past few years in the other world, and to an extent, in Konoha. I'm hoping you'd be bringing news with you when you return." Fugaku turned around then walked onwards across the yard, with Kakashi following closely behind. "Objections?"

The masked man raised his hand. "I would like to-

"None?"

"But sir-"

Fugaku clapped his hands together. "Excellent!" He slowed his pace a bit to look at the man who had been acting as his right-hand man since long ago. Some would say he could be an unofficial member of the Uchiha's, with the way he was always assisting the aforementioned family.

"Were you saying something, Kakashi?"

The silver-haired man sighed then shook his head. "When do I leave, Fugaku-san?"

"Ah, right now, if you will."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Lunch came and ended. It had been just as lively and eventful as the first meal of the day.

Albeit, the changes that had occurred after Naruto found out everything (minus the part where Danzou was after him and the Kyuubi) weren't very subtle. Everyone figured the talk with Kushina went by smoothly, if they would disregard the still visible hand mark on his tan cheek. It was evident how the blonde slowly tried to warm up to the Uchiha brothers of his own accord. He laughed and joked more freely around them now and bantered more often. Curious glances were cast at both siblings but it was without any hint of suspiciousness.

It was also obvious how Naruto tended to avoid physical contact with the youngest Uchiha. Sasuke always scowled whenever 'his' moron evaded him, and Itachi would just taunt him for that, "_Pitiful little brother, couldn't even lay a finger on what he claims to be his_". Nonetheless, whenever Sasuke managed some fleeting light touches on Naruto, the blonde's face would blush a scarlet red. He'd feign annoyance but wouldn't push him away.

It was enough to bring a happy grin on his face. And a happy Sasuke was, unquestionably, what everyone preferred over _the_ 'Fire jutsu spamming, Chidori attacking, Genjutsu-induced surrounding via Sharingan' tantrum-throwing Sasuke.

Jiraiya had opted to stay for a week or so, giving more time for Naruto to get reacquainted, in a way, with his godfather _and_ master. He promised himself he would bombard the old man with so many questions he wouldn't even have free time to write a new chapter for his perverted stories.

Naruto was now busy rummaging through cupboards looking for something. He remembered seeing the certain thing somewhere in the kitchen, but couldn't place a finger exactly where_._ Realizing the mess he'd been starting to make, he hastily put everything back in order the way he saw it in the cupboards. When he was finished, he pouted to himself and turned around. Noticing what was on the counter from his current position, he immediately dashed for it happily.

He knitted his brows in confusion. "How do our toothpicks keep disappearing?" he asked no one in particular.

Sasuke leisurely walked to the kitchen to get a drink, and replied as if on cue, "Don't ask me, I return every toothpick in its container after I'm done using it."

He said it so calmly as if it was the most natural thing to do with a toothpick. A _used_ toothpick. After getting himself a cold glass of water, he raised an eyebrow at the blonde who had his jaw hanging open.

"...You're kidding, right...?" Naruto asked hesitantly after several moments of silence.

Sasuke casually leaned against the counter. He was a few feet away from the moron at the side. Then he took a sip before speaking, "I don't know, am I?"

"You better be, you dumbass..." the Uzumaki half growled, half whined.

"Who knows?" Sasuke replied. His voice was obviously laced with smugness and amusement.

"ARGH!" Naruto glared at him but made no move to retaliate physically. He harshly snapped the toothpick that he had stuck between his teeth in half. Grabbing the small container, he threw the whole thing into the trash bin. With one last glare at the smugly smirking Uchiha, he stomped out of the room and headed for the bathroom. Naruto was climbing up the stairs (he didn't want to use the water closet downstairs since it was near the source of his irritation), when Itachi appeared right in front of him.

"Geez!" Naruto clutched at his chest, willing his pounding heart to calm down. "Don't do that!"

Itachi arched an elegant eyebrow.

"I'm gonna get angry if you startle me again."

"It wasn't my intention. I was merely passing through," the Uchiha calmly replied. They had a short chat after that, talking about trivial stuff including the incident in the kitchen not too long ago.

When they were done, Naruto continued his trip to the bathroom to wash his mouth or grab a toothbrush instead. He wasn't particularly fond of dental flosses. It made his tongue itchy, for some reason, whenever he tried to press his wet appendage against the floss.

And he liked to think it could be a lethal weapon instead to murder someone in their sleep. Like Sasuke, for a very good example.

After he was done, Naruto went to his room and opened the drawer beside his bed and fished out a necklace he had stopped wearing a long time ago. Although he couldn't remember, he _knew_ it was a very important item to him. He couldn't help but think it was more than a gift from Sasuke, like it was a symbol or supposedly to remind him of something. Naruto smiled as he touched his engraved name on the back of the pendant.

He reached up and wound the chain around his neck and secured the necklace's lock. He looked at himself in the mirror and grinned, seeing the swirly pattern at the front. Naruto carefully placed another item he had dug out from the same place, on the bedside table. Ears picking up on nearing footsteps, he turned his gaze towards the open door and saw Jiraiya passing by seconds later.

"Pervy Sage!" he called out. The said man stopped walking and backtracked to enter his room.

"Hey, Naruto, I was just checking the spare room you have here. Seems like you guys still have my stuff and had kept it well."

The young Uzumaki snorted. "Of course we did. You visit like, once or twice a month and stay for a week or so. No point in throwing out garbage that would keep on returning to us."

Jiraiya made false choking noises. "You wound me."

Face melting into a semi-serious one, the Sannin asked him, "So, kiddo, how are you? Care to share your thoughts on the information your brain processed hours ago?"

"Mom and Dad promised to give me back my memories, and I can somewhat understand why they can't just shove everything back to my head." Naruto's eyes shifted to the floor, unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck in an uncomfortable manner. "It's gonna hurt, and I don't wanna stay passed out for days 'cause of it." He winced a little.

Jiraiya fully understood the risks of the Memory Sealing jutsu that Kushina placed on him. It would be easier if the caster had set up a trigger to restore the memories - with or without his presence. But most didn't do that and Jiraiya wasn't sure if Kushina had put one on Naruto either. Also, it wasn't really a common practiced technique for two main reasons.

One, some never gained their memories back after having them temporarily sealed, since only the caster could remove and reinsert them. If the caster died, the person's condition would be permanent. It wasn't a favorable thing when one can simply die during a mission and take the sealed memories to his grave.

Two, if the person successfully gained back his memories he would suffer from the after-effects; a head-splitting headache and unconsciousness for a while. The longer the length of the sealed memories, the longer the period of the coma state.

Thirteen years of his Shinobi life had been stripped off of Naruto.

The repercussions of giving back those many years of memories in one go would be severe. Everything he remembered before _and_ after the jutsuwas performed would be registered by his brain. In Naruto's case, the things he had come to know as his past, _his childhood_, would collide with the truth.

For most people, it could take from two weeks to several months to recover from that situation. But since the jutsu was done by someone with excellent sealing abilities like Kushina, the risks could be lessened. The Uzumaki clan was known for their sealing prowess, after all. With a little help from Fugaku's Sharingan, they were able to implant new memories in Naruto's head into believing that Kizuna was where he grew up, and has always been his home. He retained memories of his family and the friends he had in the Human world.

Speaking of friends, Kushina had yet to explain to her son about the other Konoha ninjas that had been sent - or in their case, volunteered - off to this world with them.

Jiraiya sighed.

It would take a few more days for Naruto to process _everything_ being retold to him to reduce the impact of the repercussion. But he hoped someone would tell the brat sooner or later that his friends' past memories were still intact. Just that, Kushina and Minato, and occasionally Kakashi with his Sharingan, had been tweaking the other teenagers' present memories to make them fit in the Human world - in Naruto's current life.

One would wonder why so many people would go such lengths for a single boy. But the boy himself was willing to risk his own life just to protect them from Danzou, or any threat for that matter. Having the Kyuubi displayed as a source of power and fear was surely not what any sane Konoha nin wanted.

Jiraiya mentally shook his head. At least now, no one had to lie to Naruto anymore, or pretend that everyone and everything was normal. His friends and their families wouldn't have to hide being Shinobi and the teens would no longer need memory-tweaking. There was only so much for one's mind to take with constant changes. _Seriously_. They didn't really seal the teens' memories off (the adults' stayed the same) like what Kushina did to Naruto. His was permanent unless the seal was released, or had started to weaken accordingly to what day an advanced caster had set it to dissolve.

Getting his mind off of the serious topic, Jiraiya looked around. When he first arrived at the brat's room, the first three things he noticed were the accessory around the teen's neck, another one placed on top of his nightstand and... the excessively messy room of the brat.

His room was the definition of utter chaos.

"I feel like I haven't seen those necklaces for ages," Jiraiya commented lightly, eyes softening as he looked at the First Hokage's crystal heirloom.

Naruto shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "I never knew what they meant to me in the first place, so I didn't think of wearing them. Felt like keeping them instead. But now that I _do_ know, I'll use them both." He grabbed the other necklace and wore it around his neck, its pendant side by side with the other.

"_So... Sasuke and I were best friends?"_

Naruto traced the black swirling pattern embedded on the pendant, unable to keep a huge grin from forming.

_Kushina shook her head. "You were more than that." She smiled and whispered, almost in a conspiratorial way, "There was a special bond that you both shared just between the two of you."_

"I'm willing to try befriending him properly this time, Pervy Sage." He fiddled with the cerulean Uzumaki necklace. "He could be a prick like, most of the time, though."

They both laughed heartily.

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Sasuke, with a small smile, pushed himself off of his leaning position on the wall. He wasn't really _eavesdropping_. He believed no Uchiha were capable of such thing. He was just about to call the idiot out of his room when he _overheard_ Jiraiya mentioning the necklaces, and he couldn't help but listen a bit (their voices were too loud, he defended). He was about to walk away silently after he heard Naruto's satisfying response, not intending to disturb the teacher-and-student pair, when his path was suddenly blocked. He looked up and frowned.

"What?" Sasuke asked while he looked on suspiciously.

"Foxy's been ranting about something," Itachi briefly waited to see his brother's reaction before raising an eyebrow in mild amusement, "something about you returning every single toothpick you've used back in its holder."

Sasuke snorted. "Clearly, it was a joke, but he took it so seriously that i just couldn't break the news and correct him."

"And I'm guessing he's never gonna live this down." Itachi smirked at him. "You are so cruel to the one you like. It seems like we've raised you just right."

The younger Uchiha waved his hand dismissively, "I hardly think my actions toward Naruto have anything to do with how I was brought up."

Itachi gave him a penetrating stare and stood motionless on his spot for a moment, before suddenly deciding to turn Sasuke around and push him back the way he came from.

Sasuke did his best to steady himself while trying to put most of his weight on his feet. As much as spending a lot of time with Naruto was very crucial to him, he didn't think the Uzumaki would appreciate any kind of intrusion at the moment, especially when they had started talking about his parents' near death experience with the Kyuubi. He glared at Itachi over his shoulder after noticing the little space left they had to cover to arrive at Naruto's door.

_He's acting like I'm bringing him to his impending doom, _Itachi dryly thought as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes, half dragging his brother towards the blonde's room. They weren't really using much strength to deal with each other. It was one of those times where they acted pretty normal- as normal as an Uchiha can be.

Itachi stopped pushing when they were right outside Naruto's room. Neither male inside noticed their presence until he had knocked on the still-open door. All talking ceased as Naruto's questioning eyes drifted over to the emotionless Itachi, and then to Sasuke who looked like boring holes into his black and orange carpeted floor was his life goal.

"Um..." Naruto started lamely, "What's up?"

"If you aren't busy," Sasuke remained quiet but turned his glare towards his talking sibling, "now would be a good time, perhaps, to take us on a tour around town?"

The young Namikaze looked confused for a few seconds before remembering what his father suggested earlier that day. "Oh, yeah! _Yeah._ Almost forgot about that, haha!"

Sasuke tried not to look awkward as he stood there beside his brother, when they (Itachi) had interrupted them in the midst of their personal talk. Both of them were unmoving save for how their eyes followed the blonde's movements. "It's alright if we can do it some other time, seeing as how you're busy at the moment." He pointedly glared at his sibling, which Itachi expertly ignored.

"Nah, it's fine." Naruto brought his fist down on his open palm, thinking about something. He supposed he could take a walk with the both of them outside. Sasuke and Itachi had been staying over for more than a week already, but he didn't interact with them on a normal occasion, except for today.

"I'll show you some parts of Kizuna! I don't wanna stay outside too long when it's starting to get cold, though. Oh, and I have to get back earlier than you two cause I promised to help Mom with cleaning the kitchen." He grinned and rubbed the spot below his nose, another habit he inherited from Kushina. "You guys don't mind right?"

"Not at all," Itachi calmly replied for the both of them. "We'll remember our way back." He lightly nudged Sasuke with his arm, quietly telling him to give his own assurance that he _wanted _it.

"Yeah, some fresh air wouldn't be so bad. Just don't get us lost on our way."

"Teme..."

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

"Where do you want me to put these mugs, Mom?"

"Oh, just place them in the last cupboard to your right, dear. Careful with them!"

He had just returned from his trip with the Brooding Brothers outside. They didn't go sight-seeing much since he was in a hurry to get back home. But he promised they'd go out more often during weekends or when he and Sasuke didn't have piles of homework waiting for them.

While re-placing and arranging the large cups into their proper places, Naruto began wondering once again if he had heard his mother correctly during their earlier conversation. Sasuke had been... a sweet child?

The blonde wanted to laugh at that but refrained from doing so outwardly. He was more worried about breaking anything in the kitchen and receiving the wrath of his mother, than looking like a daydreaming laughing idiot.

Seriously... Sasuke Uchiha, capable of kindness and generosity? Were they talking about the same guy here? Last he checked, the bastard didn't even have the heart to throw a used toothpick into a trash bin and instead, he put it back with its other clean, unused siblings, which led to Naruto throwing the whole bunch away in dismay.

He snorted to himself, half in annoyance and half in amusement at the whole thought. Sealed memory or not, he just knew either way that his opinion on the broody teen didn't change. Albeit, Sasuke had his moments of humanity in him, he still had a screwed up personality, Naruto thought offhandedly.

"_Naruto!_"

He jerked up in surprise.

"You're gonna tear the cupboard door off its hinges if you keep pulling and leaning away on your weight!" Naruto didn't seem to be attentive to what Kushina was shouting about. She poked his cheek with the end of a rolling pin. "Stop turning it into a makeshift swing!"

"Oops." He immediately stood up straight again and let go of the knob. "Sorry, Mom."

Kushina smiled, turning back to wiping the kitchen counter clean. "It's alright. You can go now, Naru-chan. I'm almost finished here anyway."

The blonde didn't need further instructions before he exited the kitchen. He was about to pass through the dining room, when he noticed the two spiky-haired adults standing in the living room with their backs turned to him. Naruto grinned.

He crouched low and sneakily tiptoed towards them both, making sure he wouldn't hit any surface or step on anything that could make noise. He was sure he hadn't alerted them of his presence since neither Minato nor Jiraiya turned around to regard him. When he was about a foot away from them both, Naruto opened his mouth to yell loudly as a surprise attack when-

"Son, we went through this already," Minato's voice calmly broke through his concentration without either of the two men turning around. "You're supposed to lift your foot each step when approaching an 'enemy', not drag it across the ground."

"Aw, dangit!" Naruto stood up from his bent position, snapping his fingers in the air. "I thought I finally had you this time!"

"You learn to be more aware of your surroundings when you've encountered different kinds of opponents and surprise attacks," Jiraiya added with a small smirk on his face.

"I'll teach you properly how to pounce on your prey next time," Minato draped an arm across his son's shoulders. "Just make sure not to use it for the wrong reason, like peeping on girls as sensei does. Your mother would kill us all."

"One Pervy Sage is enough!" Naruto exclaimed, laughing.

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing," Jiraiya cocked his head in a mock arrogant manner, then the trio laughed once again before moving to a different spot to avoid blocking the pathway – not that anyone was currently walking through. Kushina was in the kitchen, the Uchiha siblings were still outside and they didn't have other visitors at the moment.

When Naruto calmed down a bit, he spoke up, "Hey, Dad." Minato inclined his head, facing him. "Pervy Sage." Jiraiya was silent but kept his gaze trained on the younger Namikaze.

"Can you guys teach me the way of the Shinobi again?" The two adults looked dumbfounded. Naruto hurriedly followed up his request, "I-I promise not to do anything reckless! And it's not like we really _have _to start from the basics, right...?"

Naruto felt like squirming due to the _kind_ of looks he was subjected to, until Minato smiled softly. Naruto closed his eyes and grinned when he saw his dad coming closer to him to ruffle his hair affectionately. "Actually we do, if you'd want to train properly. But I highly doubt it'd take longer this time around."

Naruto peeked one eye open, face somewhat scrunching up in wonder. "When my past memories return, is it gonna replace what I know about the present?"

"Nope," the older Namikaze answered bluntly, slowly lowering his hand to his side. "That's why the jutsu's after-effects will take its toll on you when the memories overlap." His son nodded in understanding.

"Hmm, going back to our earlier discussion," Minato crossed his arms and grinned, "I approve of your wanting to train again."

"Aw-yeah!" Naruto beamed at his father, "I just know I'm going to be awesome! Not that I'm not already awesome but- YEAH!" He was throwing his hands up in the air and seconds away from doing the ridiculous happy dance he was so fond of.

Minato stepped in before his son could even decide using the coffee table as his mini-stage. He grabbed the hem of Naruto's shirt and pulled him away from any object liable to be used in his happy mood. "Don't worry, no matter how overprotective your mother is, I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear about this."

"Well, I'm not."

Everyone turned to look at the Uchiha pair who had just come back from their 'tour' outside. Apparently, Sasuke disapproved – his _slight _front door-slamming was proof enough. Itachi briefly narrowed his eyes at his brother for the haughty tone he used in the presence of two respected older Shinobi in the room. None of them seemed to care, though.

"Me neither," Jiraiya stated while raising a hand to catch the brat's attention.

Naruto glared at them both alternately. And then, almost in an instant, his scowl softened up. He walked over to his sensei, put his hands on hips then looked defiantly at him in the eyes.

"I want to train to become stronger to protect everyone from whatever threat you guys haven't told me, even if I have to go back to square one."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at him, daring him to back down. "After all the trouble we've been through while hiding the fact that we're all Shinobi, you expect me to just agree with you?"

"Please? It's also gonna help lessen the jutsu's impact on me."

"Alright," the white-haired Sannin answered firmly.

"What!?" Sasuke rushed over to them, "Just _that_?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "What? He's persuasive."

Itachi heard someone whistle lowly at that, and for once, he was surprised that it was Minato who did it and not the hyperactive grinning Naruto. He blinked but paid no further attention to it.

Everyone took their seats. With Jiraiya, Sasuke and Itachi on one of the couches, and adjacent them were Naruto on his bright orange recliner and Minato, beside him, sat on the gold-yellow one identical to his son's. It was silent for a few more minutes until the younger Uzumaki decided to call his mother over. Kushina immediately dashed out of the kitchen, drying her wet hands on her apron as she sat down on her crimson red recliner on Naruto's other side.

"There's no need for Naruto to train as a Shinobi again," Sasuke declared once everyone had settled in their seats.

"Why not?" Kushina asked, unaware of the early discussion but seemed to approve of the idea just as Minato predicted.

"Well, if he keeps it up, I wouldn't have to protect him myself anymore."

Everyone blinked. No one decided to break the silence except Itachi, who nonchalantly commented, "Are you sulking, little brother? You do realize he's bound to revert to his former self - that's typically on par with you - once his memories return, right?"

Sasuke nodded numbly.

"He finally decided to accept things as they are and train as one of us again. The brat wants it, so let him be," Jiraiya tried coaxing him, "His mind may have forgotten, but his body hasn't."

"I bet he'll even manage to do a Rasengan in about three days, opposed to the one week training he initially did," Minato added, grinning at his wife and son who were sporting the same smiles. Even though he knew, Naruto didn't even know what exactly a Rasengan was.

The discussion ended with a silently brooding Sasuke (nothing new) and a very happy and excited Naruto. The youngest Uchiha supposed he could also make use of the moron's training time to his advantage. He would teach him the basics himself, to lift some of the burden off of Jiraiya and the Namikaze couple. Sasuke would go out of his way to help a comrade with amnesia. Yup, he was generous like that.

Screw that logic.

Sasuke already felt he wasn't getting enough attention at school since Naruto liked to hang out with his other friends, giving each of them at least the same amount of attention he usually received. And then there was also the fact that he had to constantly defend attacks from the obnoxious Sai-person and the sly Gaara. Sasuke and Naruto didn't interact much at home until today, and the raven was getting even more broody from the lack of the blonde's attention. He was already deprived of Naruto for three years. He at least needed to make up for lost time.

And then Sasuke abruptly stopped walking.

_I think I am very much obsessed with him._

**~ SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru -x- In Between -x- SasuNaru ~ SasuNaru ~**

Naruto was back in the same storage room he had stepped in before, where he first found the 'secret scroll'. He was searching haphazardly anywhere his eyes could lay on for objects that would help him be reminded, or at least, associated with the Shinobi world he grew up in. Sasuke was accompanying him earlier, but he figured the raven got bored of doing nothing else but searching for random stuff in the large room, so the Uchiha told him to call him if he needed help with something else.

Suddenly, Naruto noticed how an increasing amount of smoke began to cloud his vision. "What the hell," he began flailing his arms about, trying to get rid of the things wafting around. "What's up with all this steam, smoke... whatever."

He heard someone descend on the floor, like he had just hopped down from a high place but landed gracefully on his feet. The Namikaze huffed and followed the source of the sound.

"Did you want something, Sasuke? Cause I'm pretty sure you're-"

"Yo, Naruto."

The first time it happened, Naruto was too shocked to react to the circumstances. But now for the second time, he found his voice and yelled at the top of his lungs, "DAD! MOM! THERE'S A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW HE GOT IN!"

He shouted some more incoherent words before asking for help again. "I _SWEAR_ HE'S SOME KIND OF ROBBER! THE MASK SAYS IT ALL AND HE'S ABOUT TO TOUCH ME! _GAH_!"

Minato was right behind him in an instant thanks to his Flying Thunder God jutsu and the seal on Naruto's clothing. He was quickly scanning the area with sharp eyes. Sasuke came as fast as he can, arriving shortly after the older Namikaze, with Jiraiya, Itachi and Kushina at his tail. When the five newcomers finally had a grasp of what was happening, they all breathed a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed, except Itachi who only looked on with a slightly amused expression.

Kakashi cheerfully waved at his former teacher and the people who filed in through the doorway.

"I tried explaining and introducing myself to him, but as usual, he wouldn't listen," he answered their unvoiced question with a hint of mirth in his voice. "I stopped trying to speak after five seconds of his non-stop yelling."

Naruto glared at him. "But you were gonna touch me with your tentacles!"

The Jounin blinked, then looked at both of his hands and flexed them, "I was just gonna pat your head, hoping it would calm you down. And these are fingers." He wiggled them in front of the blonde's face. "Normal ones, see?"

Naruto, after finally calming down, huffed in annoyance at the 'weird-looking masked man'. He swatted at the hand then got up, dusting himself off. When he looked up again, he saw his parents and Jiraiya greeting the gray-haired man, welcoming him to their home.

From across the room, stood the Uchiha siblings who were watching everything in silence. Sasuke had returned to his calm self after realizing there were no threats to his blonde.

"Moron," he started, "you sound as if he was butchering you alive."

"HEY! It's not my fault people randomly decide to appear out of nowhere when I'm the only one in sight," Naruto argued, stomping his way towards the wall to lean on it, arms crossed. "Why is it always me anyway..." he grumbled to himself.

Now that he had stopped moving about, it was then that he noted how the temperature in the room had dropped compared to before.

"Wow, it's so friggin' cold." The Uzumaki rubbed at his arms to give himself a bit of heat from the touch.

For a moment, Sasuke looked at him as if he had spoken the stupidest thing in the world. "Turn the damn air conditioner off then."

"No. It's too hot."

Now Sasuke just looked ready to feed him to Manda for even bringing it up in the first place. Since either way, the moron was still complaining. He looked up, his gaze locking onto his sensei's single visible eye which then closed and crinkled while he smiled underneath the mask.

"Sasuke," the silver haired-man called as a heads up before throwing an object in the air.

Pairs of eyes were trained on the item in midair until it landed safely in Sasuke's hand, catching it with ease. He opened his fist to peer into the small thing.

"My necklace." He felt relief flood through him. He looked up and nodded gratefully at Kakashi. "I knew this would come back to me, sooner or later."

"Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san would like to send their greetings to you all, especially to you, Naruto," Kakashi said, watching the blonde as he pointed to himself and blinked. "They are reassured that you are taking good care of their sons," he leaned closer to Naruto to whisper, "particularly Sasuke-kun."

The young Uzumaki's face instantly heated up and tried to hide his slight embarrassment with a scowl, "Who the heck are you?"

Kakashi blinked twice, then patted him on the head.

"And stop doing that!"

The silver haired man stepped back a little to give him the space he wanted then replied, "I'm Kakashi Hatake, your team's sensei. Pleased to meet you... _again._"

* * *

**AN: **I'm thinking of revising the first chapter, so that it'd be more presentable and eye-catching to new readers. Just the first, don't worry. No major changes will be done. Help me get more readers with your lovely thoughts and reviews? D:

And a big, big thank you for your support guys!

_NEXT CHAPTER:  
Itachi calls Sasuke via, surprise surprise, mobile phone!  
And he answers (!?), "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S-"  
Oh, and our favorite pair goes out on a 'date'._

Drop me a review? You know you wanna ;D


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